The contentious issue of fracking is once again in the spotlight locally, as the licence for site 227, which covers the Radstock coalfield area, Midsomer Norton, the Mendips and places such as Stowey, Tunley, Clutton, Leigh upon Mendip and Chewton Mendip, will still be potentially available for exploration by company, UK Methane, for at least another year.
In 2008, the Goverment, through the Department of Energy and Climate Change, issued Petroleum Exploration and Development licences (PEDL), giving exclusive rights to licence holders to explore for and potentially extract shale gas or coal bed methane. Areas 225 (areas such as Westbury-sub-Mendip, Cranmore and Doulting), 226 (Compton Martin, Chew Magna and Blagdon) and 228 (Keynsham, Stockwood, Whitchurch, Farmborough and Priston) have now all been relinquished, as work has not been carried out under the licence terms.
Exploratory measures by any company would include drilling deep underground, into shale rock. During the process of fracking, water, sand and sometimes chemicals are injected at high pressure into the rock to release gas through fractures. This is then collected at the surface. Concerned about the unknown effects this could potentially have on Bath's natural hot springs and its World Heritage Site, B&NES Council sought expert advice from the British Geological Survey and decided unanimously, across the parties, that it could not support such exploratory work if the springs, which Bath relies heavily upon for its tourism, could be at risk. Local Councils in the area of site 227 will now be looking to see if any planning applications will be submitted by UK Methane for exploratory works.
The PEDL for areas 225, 226 and 228 could also be offered again by the Government as part of the fourteenth onshore licensing round, which is due in the near future. Local groups, such as Frack Free Chew Valley, are calling on local residents to write to B&NES, their local MP and the Minister of State responsible for onshore unconventional gas, Rt Hon. Michael Fallon, to ask that these areas be excluded from further licencing rounds.