Fracking the desolate north: despatches from the frontline

Posted by simon clydesdale — 17 July 2014 at 10:21am - Comments
Lancashire County Councillors greeted with anti-fracking message
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace
Lancashire county councillors greeted with anti-fracking message today

Another fracking application, another town. I’m not sure the ‘Not For Shale roadshow on tour’ t-shirt is ready to compete yet with the One Direction world tour t-shirt. But we’ve already appeared in Chichester, Midhurst, and today is Thursday so it must be sunny Preston. No screaming teens here but plenty of anxious county councillors faced by thousands of voters who don’t want to see Lancashire fracked to pieces.

We’re here today because Preston is home to Lancashire County Council, and they are faced with momentous decisions that will shape the future of our communities, landscapes and climate.

Cuadrilla, everyone’s favourite fracking villain, has applied to frack at two sites in Lancashire: at Little Plumpton next to the New Preston Road, and at Roseacre Wood.

Today the county council meets in full, including all the members of the Development Control Committee who will decide the fate of these communities in October. We thought it would be useful to pay them a visit before their summer hols, to give them something to think about on the beach and let them know just what a massive wall of opposition these applications face.

6,000 people across Lancashire have signed up to oppose fracking, with many thousands more sending in letters of objection to Lancashire County Council.

So we’ll be greeting councillors as they come in to their meeting. We'll show them a map of the opposition across the region and hand out our famous frackjacks and frackjack recipe, urging them to take a stand against an industry that is determined to march relentlessly across the countryside.

Lord Howell famously described this region as desolate, and believes the "derelict" north is ideal for fracking. I’m not sure Lancashire’s vital agricultural and tourism industries would recognise the noble Lord’s description.

He is blind to the magnificent walking, the areas of outstanding natural beauty, the Ribble National Nature Reserve, Martin Mere Wetlands Centre, the National Trust properties, and historic golf courses, just to name a few of the jewels of Lancashire that are now under threat from the fracking industry here.

There are 90,000 green jobs in Lancashire, but Cuadrilla’s plans undermine the future of this key sector, as well as threatening the integrity and future of agriculture and tourism in Lancashire.

We need as many people as possible to stand up and make it clear: Lancashire is not for shale. Join the growing movement, have your say now on the application at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.

Fracking is yesterday’s answer. Lancashire requires its leaders to listen to them and think of tomorrow.

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