Call for council to reaffirm their opposition to fracking in the Wakefield district
Councillors have been urged to reiterate their opposition to fracking in the Wakefield district.
Wakefield Council is due to debate a motion recommending support be given to government plans to permanently ban the practice in the UK.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock.
It involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at a rock layer, to release the gas inside.
Fracking was effectively banned in 2019 after a moratorium was introduced by the previous government.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced at last year’s Labour Party conference that the government was planning to pass a new law that would ban fracking permanently.
In 2015, onshore exploration licenses were issued to shale gas operators giving exclusive rights to drill for shale gas in eastern half of the Wakefield district, subject to planning permission and consent from regulatory bodies.
The following year, the council moved a motion calling for the withdrawal of fracking exploration licenses across the district until serious concerns about the environment and health had been addressed.
The licences covered areas including Walton, Newmillerdam, Crigglestone, Ackworth, Sandal, Crofton, South Elmsall, Hemsworth, Normanton, Stanley, Outwood, Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley.
Councillors also voted in favour of a similar motion in 2022 after a lifting of the moratorium was proposed.
Council deputy leader Jack Hemingway has put forward the latest motion calling for fracking to be banned “once and for all” due to concerns that some “senior national politicians” were seeking to overturn the ban.
Coun Hemingway said: “The practice of fracking brings with it significant environmental risks, from air, noise and water pollution, to the use of toxic chemicals to extract the gas, as well as the wells themselves blighting the countryside.”
The motion calls on the council to oppose future exploration, investigation, or implementation of fracking within the district and to write local MPs outlining the position.
The motion was expected to be considered at a full council meeting as the Express went to print.