FOLLOWING the announcement that Westbury could be targeted by fracking companies, local residents have raised concerns about the controversial plans.
White Horse News revealed last month that the Government has proposed to allow gas and oil exploration in the Westbury area.
A campaign group and a number of local residents have since written in to protest against the possibility of fracking in the area.
Bratton resident Fiona Naish said, “Having just had a friend from America visit me with her views on fracking, I am devastated that it is being considered so close to where I live.”
Simon Blake of Cob Place, Westbury, said, “Any work must be proven to have conservation as the number one priority, ahead of exorbitant profit margins for energy companies…The ‘red line’ should be the need for DECC to have presented by any potential contracted company, proof backed by empirical scientific evidence that fracking would not and will not damage in any way the aquifer that lies under the Salisbury Plain chalk downs.”
Opposition
Mr N. Ward of The Tynings, Westbury said, “It is clear the Government needs to resolve issues around fuel supplies for the future, but the current groundswell of opposition to this process must surely indicate they have got this one wrong” while another local resident, Chantal Preston, said, “So far, I haven’t seen a 100% safe case of Hydraulic Fracturing, and when your water supply is at risk, and there’s so much surrounding farm land that can be contaminated, not to mention the mess this method is going to make of our beautiful countryside; I for one, firmly say NO!”
Dash for Gas
Campaign group Keep Wiltshire Frack Free is set to oppose any attempts to frack in Wiltshire. They will be will hosting film showings of ‘The Truth Behind the Dash for Gas’ at Trowbridge Town Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 10th September, and on Tuesday 15th September at 7.30pm at Warminster Civic Centre. The film examines the social, health and environmental impacts of fracking.
Campaign spokesperson Becky Martin said, “Residents living near fracking sites in the USA and Australia report that the industry has caused water contamination and ill health. There is a growing body of scientific evidence to support these claims.
“It’s not one or two wells we are looking at, but hundreds, maybe thousands and up to 52 HGV movements per day in affected areas.”
If the Government grant the proposed licences and energy companies find underground fuel reserves, permission could be sought to extract the fuels for up to 20 years.
Local business group the Wiltshire Clean Energy Alliance (WCEA) has expressed concern that fracking sites may not be subject to normal planning rules. If local authorities fail to decide on whether to allow fracking operations within 16 weeks of an application, government ministers will have the right to intervene.
WCEA spokesperson Lesley Bennett said, “These changes dangerously undermine UK planning rules. The government has torn up its commitment to local democracy. Local councils can no longer adequately protect community health or the environment in this bizarre rush to impose fracking on the British people.”
Employment
Other local people were less concerned. Westbury man Ross Palman said, “Where we live there is a solar panel farm and a sewage works nearby which we don’t notice. There would be some downsides, but it would also bring money and employment to the area.
“I believe there is quite a lot of media frenzy and scaremongering around fracking, and we must have an open view before we immediately write it off as destroying our countryside/bad for our health.”
Fracking has become widespread in the USA and Australia, and has since met fierce opposition as a result of claims about pollution, health risks and property values falling. A YouGov poll published in May this year showed that only 32% of the British public supported fracking in this country.
To find out more about fracking, or to join the Keep Wiltshire Frack Free campaign go to www.frack freefamilies.org.uk.
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