‘We want no part in this dirty industry’: Wakefield Council sends anti-fracking message to government

Councillors voted in favour of a motion to oppose the decision to lift the ban on fracking for shale gas.

The practice was halted in 2019, amid opposition from environmentalists and fears over earth tremors.

But last week the government lifted the moratorium to allow fracking in England once again.

In 2015, onshore exploration licenses were issued to shale gas operators giving exclusive rights to drill for shale gas in the Wakefield district, subject to planning permission and consent from regulatory bodies.

Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for climate change and the environment, proposed the motion at full council meeting on Wednesday.

He said: “This Government seems determined to drag our energy policy back by decades, looking to the past when they should be looking to a greener future.

“After a three-year moratorium, fracking is to be allowed again, breaking a Tory manifesto promise and causing concern in every community where licences have been granted.

“As a solution to our energy crisis it is a fantasy.

“What sort of madness is it to restart fossil fuel extraction years into the future?”

In 2016, Wakefield Council moved a similar motion to Council, calling for the withdrawal of fracking exploration licenses across the Wakefield 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.

Coun Hemingway added: “In the UK, where limited fracking took place in Lancashire, minor earthquakes were observes, including some of up to Richter scale 3 before operations were stopped.

“It is clear that the winner will be private profit. Profit at the expense of our communities, profit at the expense of our countryside, profit at the cost of health to people and animals.

“We must send a clear message to Government on behalf of our communities that we want no part in this dirty has-been industry.

“We say no to fracking in any part of the Wakefield district.”

Councillors voted in favour of of writing to the government to re-iterate the local authority’s continued opposition to fracking.

The motion also calls on the government to rethink its decision and “ban fracking once and for all in the UK”.