Will there be Fracking in Kingston Seymour? (Article by Steve Dixon published in the January 2017 edition of the Village Magazine)
Many of you will have heard the interview with Gerwyn Williams – MD of South Western Energy Ltd – that was broadcast on Claire Carter’s Radio Somerset show on the morning of the 2nd December 2016.
The facts are these.
It is part of Government strategy to make the UK self-sufficient in natural resources and it has chosen to licence the exploration for natural energy in very many parts of the country. These licences include nine licences for the coastal areas of Somerset – from Clevedon around as far as Dunster. Please visit the Oil and Gas Authority’s website www.ogauthority.co.uk for detail of all of the areas that have been licensed.
Kingston Seymour lies at the very northern edge of licence area ST36 and this licence, plus the eight other licences for the Somerset coastal areas, have all been taken by South Western Energy Ltd. The geophysical analysis of the opportunity that MAY exist beneath this very large area was expected, by Mr Williams, to take another year. If that “desktop” work shows that there could be some value to undertaking physical exploration, South Western Energy would then have to apply for permissions and consents from a number of bodies and this process would give us all the opportunity to engage and act because these permissions and consents are not in any way assured
We think that it is unlikely that potential value will be found under KS but please be assured that your Parish Council, North Somerset Council and all of the other authorities in whose areas these licences fall – will be maintaining a very great deal of vigilance over this and will act quickly and appropriately as matters develop.
Update – The nine licences acquired by South Western Energy amount to a land total of 182 square miles. Our Parish contributes 5.8 square miles of that – equivalent to 3.2% of the total.
The Government’s Oil and Gas Authority’ Website is here http://www.ogauthority.co.uk
An independently produced Fracking Map is here http://frack-off.org.uk/locations/
A local – Somerset – independent site is here http://www.frackfreesomerset.org/