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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/05/anti-fracking-groups-protest-as-council-mulls-over-shale-gas-drilling
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| Anti-fracking groups protest as council mulls over shale gas drilling | Anti-fracking groups protest as council mulls over shale gas drilling |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Anti-fracking campaigners are protesting outside a town hall where councillors are deciding whether to approve plans to open a UK shale gas exploration frontier in the east Midlands. | Anti-fracking campaigners are protesting outside a town hall where councillors are deciding whether to approve plans to open a UK shale gas exploration frontier in the east Midlands. |
| Nottinghamshire county council will vote on Wednesday on iGas Energy’s plans to drill two wells on a former RAF bombing range in the village of Misson. They would be the first shale gas wells in the area to be given the green light for exploratory drilling. | |
| The iGas applications do not involve fracking, but the energy firm has indicated it would apply to frack the wells if the drilling results are positive. | |
| The Nottinghamshire decision is significant because no fracking has taken place in the UK since 2011, when Cuadrilla caused earth tremors trying to frack a vertical well near Blackpool. | The Nottinghamshire decision is significant because no fracking has taken place in the UK since 2011, when Cuadrilla caused earth tremors trying to frack a vertical well near Blackpool. |
| This year Third Energy was granted planning permission to frack a vertical well it had already drilled in North Yorkshire, but it has been unable to proceed pending a judicial review. | |
| Dozens of campaigners picketed the council meeting at Nottinghamshire county hall on Wednesday, carrying placards and banners that read “Keep it in the ground”. | |
| Councillors were told there had been 493 objections from people who live near the proposed drilling site and 1,800 from the wider Nottinghamshire area. | Councillors were told there had been 493 objections from people who live near the proposed drilling site and 1,800 from the wider Nottinghamshire area. |
| The council’s planning officer, Jonathan Smith, has recommended that councillors approve the exploratory work, set to take place 125 metres from a nature reserve designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). | The council’s planning officer, Jonathan Smith, has recommended that councillors approve the exploratory work, set to take place 125 metres from a nature reserve designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). |
| Yet the plan has met fierce opposition locally. Jayne Watson, from Misson parish council, told councillors on Wednesday that it would have a “significant adverse effect” on the local area, which she said already suffered noise pollution due to flights every eight minutes to and from Robin Hood airport. | |
| Misson would become “a village that would be trapped by two heavy industrial sites – it would be hemmed in” if councillors gave the go-ahead, she said. | Misson would become “a village that would be trapped by two heavy industrial sites – it would be hemmed in” if councillors gave the go-ahead, she said. |
| Brian Davey, of the campaigning group Frack Free Notts, told councillors that if they voted to approve the plans they were “committing genocide on future generations” and they would have to explain to their grandchildren why they did it. | Brian Davey, of the campaigning group Frack Free Notts, told councillors that if they voted to approve the plans they were “committing genocide on future generations” and they would have to explain to their grandchildren why they did it. |
| “It would be passing something which has grave implications for their future,” he said. | “It would be passing something which has grave implications for their future,” he said. |
| That was met with a furious response from Stan Heptinstall, a Liberal Democrat councillor and former professor at the University of Nottingham, who said that to be accused of “damning” his nine grandchildren was “very hurtful”. | |
| “It really hurts me,” he said. “We’re here to look at a particular planning application in a particular way … as the chairman pointed out this planning application is for exploratory work. It is nothing to do with fracking.” | “It really hurts me,” he said. “We’re here to look at a particular planning application in a particular way … as the chairman pointed out this planning application is for exploratory work. It is nothing to do with fracking.” |
| Janice Bradley, head of conservation for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, told councillors that the exploratory work would cause harm to “extremely sensitive and rare species”, including long-eared owls. | Janice Bradley, head of conservation for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, told councillors that the exploratory work would cause harm to “extremely sensitive and rare species”, including long-eared owls. |
| The trust, which owns the adjacent nature reserve, is considering bringing legal action against iGas to try to block the scheme. | The trust, which owns the adjacent nature reserve, is considering bringing legal action against iGas to try to block the scheme. |
| It has raised concerns about the drilling noise and effects on water and nitrogen levels in the area and has asked iGas to provide it with assurances that its activities would not breach a 1969 legal covenant preventing “noisy, noxious or damaging activity”. | It has raised concerns about the drilling noise and effects on water and nitrogen levels in the area and has asked iGas to provide it with assurances that its activities would not breach a 1969 legal covenant preventing “noisy, noxious or damaging activity”. |
| Simon Gledhill, from the Misson community action group, raised concerns about the potential for unexploded ordinance on the former bombing range, which was used by the RAF from the late 1930s to the late 1950s. | Simon Gledhill, from the Misson community action group, raised concerns about the potential for unexploded ordinance on the former bombing range, which was used by the RAF from the late 1930s to the late 1950s. |
| The Ministry of Defence had admitted that it had “no clue” how many unexploded bombs were present on the site, Gledhill said, adding that farmworkers regularly dug them up. | |
| “iGas has got a number of places it could conduct these activities,” he told councillors. “Would you choose to drill and cause ground-borne vibrations in a place where you know that people have dropped bombs? Would you put at risk people, not just in the village, but staff and contractors? Why would anyone do that?” | “iGas has got a number of places it could conduct these activities,” he told councillors. “Would you choose to drill and cause ground-borne vibrations in a place where you know that people have dropped bombs? Would you put at risk people, not just in the village, but staff and contractors? Why would anyone do that?” |
| Smith, the planning officer, said Natural England had not raised concerns about any potentially harmful impact on local wildlife, and no unexploded ordinance had been found by iGas during an early survey of the land. | Smith, the planning officer, said Natural England had not raised concerns about any potentially harmful impact on local wildlife, and no unexploded ordinance had been found by iGas during an early survey of the land. |
| It is a make-or-break week for fracking in the UK. Sajid Javid, the secretary of state for communities and local government, is due to decide on Thursday whether to approve Cuadrilla’s plans to use hydraulic fracking in Lancashire, after it was rejected by local councillors. |