Following a similar initiative in nearby Fernhurst [1], nine residents and landowners, including the Sussex Wildlife Trust, whose property surround a potential fracking site near Wisborough Green, West Sussex, have joined forces to deny energy company Celtique permission to drill under their land.
The announcement comes ahead of a crucial meeting of the West Sussex County Council planning committee tomorrow, to decide whether to grant permission for Celtique to carry out exploratory drilling at the contested site. Celtique have said they are ready to use hydraulic fracturing in future should they find shale gas or oil deposits in suitable quantities. [2]
Solicitors acting on behalf of the residents sent an official letter to the company and the Department for Energy and Climate Change this week stating the landowners’ refusal to allow fracking under their property.
The land owned by the residents covers almost the entire perimeter of the Celtique site, including its south-west corner, where the company is planning to drill an exploratory well. [3] As a typical fracking site requires both a vertical and a horizontal borehole – the latter usually extending for up to two miles below ground – the residents’ opposition could prevent the company from developing a full-scale fracking operation in future.
This is the second setback for Celtique in the space of a few days after it emerged council planning officials have recommended the committee should turn down Celtique’s application. [4] The council experts pointed out the company’s failure to address a number of road safety and capacity issues, and a flawed transport assessment that officials say underplays the increase in heavy lorry traffic around the site.
Celtique was forced to withdraw a planned horizontal well from its application at Fernhurst following the launch of the first legal block. [5]
Under the current legislation, shale prospectors need permission from landowners before drilling under their properties or must obtain special permission from a court. Ministers have announced plans to change the law to allow under-house fracking to go ahead without the owners’ consent, but the new legislation has yet to go through parliament where it is likely to face opposition. [6]
A recent YouGov survey showed three quarters of people in Britain – and 73% of potential Tory voters – oppose ministers’ plans to strip people of their access rights in order to clear the way for fracking.
Both the Wisborough Green and Fernhurst landowners are among over 48,000 people who have joined the Wrongmove legal block set up by Greenpeace.
Speaking on behalf of local campaign group Keep Kirdford and Wisborough Green, who have helped Greenpeace set up the land lock around the Celtique site, local resident Nathan Stride said:
"Our main concern is that the process of extracting shale gas and oil is nowhere near as safe as the industry and the government claim. So it’s really encouraging to see that the council’s planning department have looked at all the facts and recognised how unsuitable this site really is.
"This is a true David and Goliath battle. On one side you have a fracking industry that can rely on huge amounts of money and powerful friends in government. On the other there’s a small group of local residents whose only strength are the legal safeguards enshrined in law.
"We are now looking to our Councillors on Tuesday to stand by the decision of their planning experts. To my knowledge, this could be the first potential fracking site in the UK to receive a refusal."
Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale added:
“Celtique’s attempts to gain the local residents’ trust are unravelling even further just hours before a crucial decision on their application. Both their prospective drilling sites are now surrounded by legal blockades, and their estimates on the impact of heavy lorries around the site have been questioned by highway officials.
“Council experts, as well as the thousands of local people who have objected to this application, have seen through Celtique’s smokescreen and recommended putting a stop to their plans. Local councillors should listen to these warnings and tell Celtique to pack up and go home – Sussex is not for shale.”
ENDS
Notes
[2] http://www.celtiqueenergie.com/wisboroughgreen
[3] http://www2.westsussex.gov.uk/ds/cttee/plng/plng220714i4.pdf (Para 4.3)
[4] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/17/celtique-energie-fracking-noise-lorries-hgvs
Contact: Stefano Gelmini, Greenpeace UK press officer, 07506 512442
