Reporting of the politics at national and local level of the shale gas and fracking debate
There’s continuing uncertainty about the future impact of unconventional oil and gas sites on house prices and mortgage lending. Last week, Henry Smith, MP for Crawley, raised the issue in parliament after Santander withdrew a mortgage offer to one of his constituents on a house six miles from […]
The Energy Minister Michael Fallon has welcomed the report by Public Health England on the impact of fracking on people’s health and the environment. The report, issued yesterday, said fracking was likely to be low risk but it called for good onsite management and appropriate regulation. Mr Fallon said: “I […]
From Balcombe Parish Council Website
More people would prefer a windfarm than a fracking plant if they had to choose which was built in their local area, according to the pollng organisation Survation. In a study for yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, Survation found that 68.1% of people would choose a windfarm, compared with […]
George Osborne says he doesn’t want Britain to be left on the sidelines over fracking because protestors fear it will harm the environment. According to the Daily Telegraph, the Chancellor told a Thomson Reuters event in London “Of course there are proper environmental regulations there to protect local communities, […]
Balcombe Parish Council has posted a video of the first part of a meeting between villagers and the Environment Agency which discussed regulation at Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site. About 270 people attended the meeting, on October 9th, with more listening outside. At the meeting, the Environment Agency confirmed […]
Balcombe Parish Council has delayed its village ballot on attitudes to oil exploration in the village because Cuadrilla’s latest planning application needs revision. West Sussex County Council has reported that Cuadrilla has not provided information needed to validate the application to test oil flow rates at its exploration […]
The Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, accused the government of being the flag-waver-in-chief for the fracking industry, after she appeared in court on charges following a protest at Cuadrilla’s site near Balcombe. In a statement made outside Crawley Magistrates Court, she said ministers were ignoring warnings on the […]
When the energy company SSE put prices up last week by an average of 8.2%, it blamed, among other things, government-imposed green levies collected through gas and electricity bills. Three days later, the company told the FT that government green energy policies would put up bills by £26 […]
Balcombe Parish Council is to ballot villagers on their opinion on future oil and gas exploration in the area. The ballot, to be run by Electoral Reform Services, will inform the council’s future policy on exploration and extraction. It aims to collect opinions on: Cuadrilla’s application for planning […]
DRILL OR DROP? 