We shale not be moved
FEARS Amanda, right, with Angie WITH their camping chairs and lunches, pensioners Barbara Richardson and Gabrielle Vaughan could be on a day trip.
But instead of enjoying their retirement the ladies have become ardent protesters at the gates of Britain’s first shale fracking site.
Yesterday at 1.15pm, despite years of protest and legal action, oil and gas exploration company Cuadrilla finally began fracking at Little Plumpton, near Blackpool.
Around 70 demonstrators had tried to barricade gates to the site.
Test fracking there was halted seven years ago after two earthquakes measuring 1.5 and 2.2 on the Richter scale.
For Barbara and her neighbours, earthquakes are the least of their worries.
“There are much bigger issues,” she says. “They say there are going to be jobs and a boost to the local economy but they don’t tell you about the adverse effects.
“We are a rural community and tourism is a big part of our economy. If you bring fracking in you are going to change the whole character of the area.
“I am worried about the water – they are going to use 5-8 million gallons per well and 50 per cent of that comes back as hazardous waste. What happens to that?
“What if there is an accident? There is the danger of blow-outs. Longer term there is climate change – for the sake of future generations we need to be moving away from fossil fuels.”
Reserves of shale gas have been identified across large parts of the UK, particularly in Northern England. Experts say it could supply fuel for decades and create as many as 64,000 jobs.
More than 100 licences have been awarded by the Government to firms in the UK allowing them to pursue gas and oil exploration.
Before firms can begin they must also receive planning permission from the local council.
Lancashire
County Council rejected fracking firm Cuadrilla’s plans in 2015, but that ruling was overturned by then Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.
Campaigners applied for an interim injunction blocking the start of works but on Friday a High Court judge ruled there was no evidence to show fracking posed more than a medium risk.
There is some local support. Lee Petts, chair of pro-fracking group Lancashire For Shale, said: “We’re very pleased the High Court has sensibly rejected this last-minute challenge from campaigners.”
Yesterday public opinion seems to be on the side of the protesters.
Cars beeped their horns as they passed the demonstrators, including one man who had attached himself to scaffolding with a D lock around his neck.
Angie Mosher, who runs the village barber’s shop, had no idea what fracking was until she felt those earthquakes.
She says: “I’m worried about the damage to the local community, the water, the air pollution. There isn’t one good thing you can say about it. They say they are going to create jobs. I am yet to see them.
“People don’t realise your house won’t be insured from any damage from fracking. We’re northern and don’t take well to being bullied.”
Cuadrilla says they are committed to minimising any impact on the local environment.
Yesterday a spokesman said: “Hydraulic fracturing of both horizontal exploration wells is expected to last three months after which the flow rate of the gas will be tested.”
Four years ago retired IT manager Barbara, 62, also knew nothing about fracking.
But when plans were announced to start exploration tests in her village of Roseacre, four miles from Little Plumpton, she started her research and began protesting.
She says: “It is sad but not unexpected. This has only strengthened our resolve. This isn’t just about fracking, it is about civil rights.”
Retired teacher Gabrielle, 65, of nearby Preston, has been protesting at the site three times a week for two years.
She says: “If the amount of subsidies this industry was getting was put into renewables then we would have good clean energy, which was much cheaper.
“I fear for the groundwater – once that is poisoned we can’t change it. It is utter madness.”