Shale has been back on the front pages this week, with exploratory drilling at Balcombe in West Sussex and Lord Howell offending sensibilities north of the Watford Gap. The leading column in this week’s issue of the Spectator makes this point:
‘Lord Howell’s comments add grist to the arguments of those who complain that the government only supports fracking when it is well outside Conservative constituencies. This is an impression which the government needs to correct very quickly by supporting the case for fracking in Sussex — where this week celebrity protestors have joined locals to oppose an exploratory test bore for oil and gas (not yet involving fracking) — every bit as much as it supports fracking in the Labour heartlands of Lancashire.
It will never be possible to win over the extremities of the nimby tendency. But by tackling the misinformation spewed out by groups claiming to speak on behalf of the environment, a large majority of Sussex residents, as well as those farther north, can be won over. Far from requiring a desolate, lightly inhabited landscape, fracking is quite capable of being carried out in intimate areas of countryside such as the Sussex Weald without ill effect. Fracking does naturally involve a certain amount of fracturing. But this is only required while establishing a well. Once this process in completed it is possible to extract gas for decades, quietly and cleanly.’
I recently reported on another anti-fracking campaign in West Sussex. Much more could be done to convince residents that fracking is safe and unintrusive (assuming that it is); but that is less than half of the matter. There is some concern that fracking pods will deter tourists, who are a major source of permanent business in the South Downs and the Weald (as, of course, they are across the North). There is more serious concern that fracking will hit local property prices; indeed, I heard that a few house sales have collapsed for fear of fracking. Given that many people’s wealth and retirement funds sit in their bricks and mortar (and because government policy is driving up house prices nationally), such concern should not be taken lightly. And, of course, that observation applies to Blackpool as much as it does to Balcombe.
Then there are wider economic and financial matters. It’s clear from what I saw that communities are not going to bought off with ‘bribes’ of £100,000 and the promise of 1 per cent of the well’s profits; not least because such ‘bribes’ reinforce the suspicion among locals the shale is the business equivalent of ‘Wham, Bam, Thank You Mam’. A more wholesome, wholehearted and lasting approach to investment in (and with) the local community has a much better prospect of winning hearts and minds.
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