Petition launched to stop frack bid
JON MACPHERSON
APETITION has been launched opposing moves to introduce ‘fracking’ in Hyndburn.
Council chiefs have raised fears over the potential fallout from commencing drilling in the borough, following “tremendous disruptions” at sites elsewhere in the county.
Two exploratory shale gas licences were granted by the Government in 2015 in the 14th onshore oil and gas licensing rounds.
Coun Ken Moss, who is Hyndburn council’s cabinet member for parks and open spaces, said he ‘cannot support any attempts to start drilling’ here.
He has set up an online petition on the change.org website and said he will also bring a motion to a future council meeting.
Coun Moss said: “As a new source of fuel I do feel that fracking is a step backwards rather than exploration of renewables.
“There have also been tremendous disruptions caused by protests at the Cuadrilla site in West Lancashire and that is something neither we nor the local police force can afford to see repeated here.
“Due to the potential impact on the local taxpayers, I cannot support any attempts to start drilling in Hyndburn.”
Fracking is the process of drilling into the earth, then using high-pressure water to release gas inside rock.
Pro-fracking groups say the untapped resource could spark economic revival and a jobs boom in drilling areas, but green groups have raised fears over the safety and environmental impact of the process.
Coun Moss said he will be writing to MP Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to express his concerns.
He added: “The general consensus is that there is not a lot of support for it around the council.”
In 2015, map block boundary ‘SD72’ was granted to a partnership run by Celtique Energie Petroleum covering Accrington and Oswaldtwistle, and ‘SD73 and SD83’, was granted to a partnership run by Osprey Petroleum Ltd, covering Great Harwood, Claytonle-Moors and Huncoat.
The licences do not give the applicants permission to drill and they must apply to the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, the local councils, the Oil and Gas Authority and the Department for Energy and Climate Change with an evidence-based report.