What Southport residents need to know about Fracking

Residents hear how living within 25 miles of a Fracking site could devalue their property by 25%

HAF (Halsall against Fracking) recently held their first meeting at Halsall Memorial Hall. The meeting which was well attended by local residents, were informed that TESLA will not give a date for the forthcoming seismic survey in the area (PEDL 164) until after the election.

A facts and figures presentation citing experts from the medical, scientific and economic sectors, showed the very real and serious concerns to public health (see link http://www.medact.org/news/new-report-health-fracking-the-impacts-opportunity-costs/), the environment, the rural economy and how living within 25 miles of a planned Fracking site could devalue people’s homes – reductions in excess of 25% have already been seen on the Fylde. Good solicitors in Southport have already performed searches on behalf of purchasers showing Banks as such an area and lenders have been notified to take this into consideration in the level of mortgage advance.

Fracking sites in the Fylde have already seen a drop in the value of their properties and insurance companies (notably NFU) are already including clauses stating that farmers will not be covered by due to incidents of fracking. As one HAF member pointed out: “If people living in Southport, Formby and surrounding towns think this won’t affect them, then they are in for a mighty shock”. It is entirely feasible that a fracking site in Halsall would mean that the properties in Birkdale have fracking going on underneath them as the lines/seam can run for 1.75 miles from the well in any direction.

What was also very clear, is how the government is even more determined to turn Lancashire into the Fracking hub of UK, in light of the fact that Scotland and Wales have placed a moratorium on Fracking. HAF founding member and Chair Maureen Mills said: “We just cannot let this happen. The outgoing government is committed to turning the rural north into the test case for Fracking!

The group urged people to lobby their local councillors and demand to know what their stance is on this issue, HAF member Lynn Campbell said: “With the election almost here the public has a right to know where the people seeking their votes stand. We already know what our local conservative Cllr and current Mayor Doreen Stephenson thinks, as she told us at a recent Halsall Parish Council meeting, when she stated “I don’t have an opinion and I don’t need to have one” which the audience thought an extraordinary comment and frankly not good enough.”

Incredibly, at a general election hustings in mid-Sussex last week Sir Nicholas Soames (Conservative MP for mid-Sussex and Winston Churchill’s grandson) told the public meeting that rural areas in the north would be “the perfect place” to try out the controversial drilling process “to see if it is safe”. Not of course in his beloved Sussex because “we can’t frack in very built-up areas”. He said, “It’s a silly thing to do, there isn’t the infrastructure for thousands of trucks thundering through the place in a heavily populated area.” What about the infrastructure of rural landscape of Lancashire; it will be the sacrificial lamb if they get their way!

HAF will hold regular meetings, which will be held at Halsall Memorial hall and will also link-up with other nearby local groups which are being set up now. Across Lancashire there are currently 39, as well coming under the umbrella of “Frack Free Lancashire”.

For anyone who would like further information about the forthcoming seismic survey, Fracking and the consequences, HAF group has plenty of information and can be contacted on haf@fastmail.fm they will shortly be launching a website and Facebook site, you can also follow them on twitter HAF@hafnofracking

Images below – What they dont tell you is how Fracking really looks

$ots-frack1$ $ots-frack2$