The Andover branch of Extinction Rebellion is planning its comeback in the town after lockdown with “one or two ideas to draw attention”.

One of the founders of the group, Helen Moore, said that the group aims to “get the ball rolling again,” after the Covid-19 lockdown. “It’s the first opportunity to come back together and start doing things again.”

However, Moore is keen to stress that her aim is not to disrupt the lives of people in Andover, referring to a high-profile stunt at Canning Town station, where protestors glued themselves to a DLR train, as “utterly daft.”

“We don’t want to come up with actions that will put people at risk, or seriously annoy people when life is hard enough as it is. The problem is trying to come up with something that doesn’t do either.”

Extinction Rebellion Andover began its post-lockdown activities with a talk from climate scientist Bors Hulesch entitled ‘Climate Change: Heading for Extinction (and what to do about it)’ on Wednesday (August 6) evening.

The local branch, set up in September last year, is one of 399 across the country. Extinction Rebellion aims to raise public awareness of climate change, and fight for further action by governments at different levels.

Since its foundation, the group has participated in protests in London, as well as receiving non-violent direct action training to assist in their protests.

“The real danger is that the climate emergency will be swept under the rug,” said Moore. “All you get at the moment is wall to wall Covid.”

In particular, the group hopes to hold the Test Valley Borough Council to account over its declaration of a climate emergency. Declared in September last year, shortly before the Extinction Rebellion branch were formed, the council subsequently approved an action plan in June.

“We read the council’s climate emergency action plan,” said Moore “and this is the kind of thing they should have been doing thirty years ago. Our biggest worry is that it’s just a box-ticking exercise.”