Fracking in Kent? The Public Say No!
Friday
27th September 2013
Almost 300
concerned members of the public crowded in to Sheperdswell village hall on
Wednesday night to listen to CPRE Protect Kent’s views on the 3 applications for
exploratory boreholes in Dover district. CPRE Protect Kent Chairman Richard
Knox-Johnston introduced the organisations views and briefed the crowd on the
serious concerns that CPRE Protect Kent has with the test boreholes being
drilled, whilst the Chairman of our Environment Committee, Graham Warren, gave a
technical description of the geology of the area and the potential impact that
drilling may have on Kent’s water resources. CPRE Protect Kent’s experts
believe that in an already water-stressed area of the country, the prospect of
loss or contamination of water resources that are already heavily committed is
too great a risk and that the geological uncertainties of the Kent coal fields
remain too great a hazard
Members of the
public were given the opportunity to ask questions of the CPRE experts in
attendance, whilst the local MP Charlie Elphicke also attended to hear the views
of the public and to answer questions. He echoed the concerns raised by Protect
Kent over the particular risks of gas exploration in this location and announced
that he would raise these concerns with Ministers.
CPRE Protect
Kent has a number of serious concerns about test boreholes being drilled in
these rural areas, not least the landscape and traffic implications whilst our
Environment Committee has raised serious concerns regarding the potential for
groundwater contamination due to the particular formation of geological layers
and fault lines beneath the chalk.
CPRE Protect
Kent Chairman Richard Knox-Johnston said:
“There is
considerable concern amongst those in the area about this drilling operation,
the way in which it needs to be regulated and the unseemly speed with which the
planning application is being processed. We are also concerned by the many
impacts these developments will have on the tranquil landscapes of the Dover
district. We would ask all members of the public who are concerned by these
developments to respond to the Kent County Council planning applications to
ensure that their voice is heard.”
-Ends-
For more
information, contact:
Jamie
Weir
PR
Manager
Tel: 01233
714544
NOTES
FOR EDITORS
1.To
access the planning applications, please follow the links below:
2.
CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the
beauty,
tranquillity
and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term
future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a
branch in every county. President: Sir Andrew Motion. Patron:
Her Majesty The Queen. www.cpre.org.uk
3.
Protect Kent (The Kent Branch of CPRE) is one of the charity’s largest county
groups, with more than 3,000 supporters, 12 district groups and four
special-interest groups, which focus on transport, planning, historic buildings
and the environment.
4. Protect Kent
(The Kent Branch of CPRE) exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and
diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other
natural resources in town and country.
5. Registered
office: Queens Head House, Ashford Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent TN27 0AD,
Telephone: 01233 714540, www.protectkent.org.uk or www.cprekent.org.uk, email:
info@cprekent.org.uk. A company
limited by guarantee, registered in England number 4335730, registered charity
number 1092012.
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