3rd March 2014 1. Balcombe: end of public consultation approaches WSCC/005/14/BA application by Cuadrilla Balcombe Ltd There are 10 days left for people to respond to Cuadrilla’s application to flow test and monitor its oil exploration well at Lower Stumble. (The consultation period ends on 13th March 2014).
26th February 2014 Balcombe Parish Council’s Oil Working Group meets today to discuss the village’s future policy on hydrocarbon issues. But how much influence will the council – and local people – have on oil exploration or production in their area? Is there a democratic deficit in decision-making […]
25th February 2014 Yesterday, Balcombe Parish Council published the results of its poll on residents’ attitudes to drilling for oil and gas in the village and potential fracking. 59.8% of the potential 1,507 voters returned the polling card. 60% of respondents were against Cuadrilla returning to Balcombe to flow test […]
18/2/14 The South Downs National Park Authority has halted consideration of Celtique Energie’s planning application for exploratory drilling at Fernhurst because key information is missing. The application will need to go through a new consultation and is unlikely to be decided until the summer. The authority’s chief executive, […]
10/2/14 Alison Stevenson, chair Balcombe Parish Council, is attending the 2014 Shale Gas World conference in Manchester in May. The website http://www.shale-world.com/ asked her about Balcombe’s experience, public attitudes to drilling and how well the operating companies had engaged with people. The interview was published last week but […]
3/2/14 Greenpeace reported today that a group of Sussex residents have formed the first legal blockade to stop a drilling site. The charity says solicitors acting on behalf of the residents have written to the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, and the exploration company, Celtique Energie, to say they […]
West Sussex County Council has said an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) would not be needed for Cuadrilla’s new proposals at Balcombe. The company’s planning application was published yesterday (23/1/14) on the West Sussex County Council website. The application is for temporary permission for flow testing and monitoring a lateral borehole, […]
Cuadrilla has written to Balcombe residents telling them it has no plans ever to frack its oil exploration well on the edge of village. The letter, signed by company Chief Executive, Francis Egan, says the oil-bearing rocks below the site at Lower Stumble are naturally fractured. Mr Egan […]
The chairman of Cuadrilla Resources, Lord Browne of Madingley, told a room of 400 people last night that his company would not frack at its site at Balcombe. Lord Browne was responding to questions following a lecture about climate change and fossil fuels at the London School of […]
Kent County Council has confirmed Coastal Oil and Gas has withdrawn three planning applications for exploratory boreholes at Shepherdswell, Eythorne and Guston near Dover. In a letter to East Kent Against Fracking, the council said the company, which says it wants to explore for coal bed methane, would […]
DRILL OR DROP? 