Stop moaning – fracking will be good for us!
Last week, after your report about the Government’s plans to compensate homeowners in potential fracking areas, there was outrage from some about people being bribed into accepting fracking, at the expense of the environment. One of the main concerns is that fracking might pollute water, but there has never been conclusive evidence that this happens. In fact, the positives of fracking by far outweigh the negatives: more employment, lower cost of fuel, and independence from duties on imported energy.
A better-placed cause for concern for these people might be the irritating basement conversions that are now so commonplace and benefit no one other than the homeowners who install them.
J. Bell, London
As an entrepreneur but, more importantly, a citizen of the UK, I feel we must be able to have the option of energy self-sufficiency. If we do not, it will leave us exposed to the ravages of the winds of foreign political instability. At the same time the Government must also ensure people’s safety.
Jason Pattinson, CEO Bybite
I live in Davyhulme – one of the fracking areas you listed in last week’s paper – and could, potentially, be a recipient of the £1,200 Government ‘compensation’ package. Should that happen, and I’m trying to keep an open mind about the benefits versus risks of fracking, I would hope that the sum mentioned would be to soothe our concerns – and that it might not be the only one we could get.
What happens if we find one day that our greenhouse, most of the garden and our hedgehog house have disappeared into a sink-hole, while our kitchen is perched precariously close to the edge?
Would the fracking company fix any cracks that appear in our walls? And what would happen if house prices in our area suffer because of such problems?
A mere £1,200 might compensate me for the loss of Harry the hedgehog, but it wouldn’t tickle the surface of my concerns if our house lost value because of fracking. Ann Field, Davyhulme, Manchester
I suspect that any potential cash settlement to those in a ‘fracking zone’ will no doubt be accompanied by a heavy qualification. This will absolve the Government from responsibility for any structural damage to that property during or after the process. This could easily render the Government’s cash offer derisory. Andrew Walker, Wendover, Buckinghamshire
We should look towards our major rivers for energy. They are an untapped source of power.
E. Jones, Sevenoaks, Kent