YP Letters: Fracking firm fails to answer our concerns

THIRD Energy invited residents of Kirby Misperton to a community update on the forthcoming hydraulic fracturing at the KM8 well, half a mile from the village.

I want to express my deep disappointment that hardly any of our concerned questions were answered adequately.

There were glaring contradictions, some of the displays had inaccurate information and one staff member said they couldn’t answer our questions properly because ‘no one really knows what is down there yet and no one knows whether the regulation will work because they haven’t tried it before.’ And this was intended to reassure the community?

There was little appreciation for the fact that their operations and vehicle movements will disrupt village life, making Main Street unsafe for children and vulnerable adults.

North Yorkshire County Council, the Government and Third Energy show little concern for our welfare.

Local concerns are just not being listened to and we grieve about an uncertain future for us all.

From: Dave Roberts, Ontario Road, Scunthorpe.

KEITH Cochrane, the CEO of the fracking company Third Energy, claims that fracking can be undertaken “safely” (The Yorkshire Post, September 4).

The Paris climate agreement set the maximum increase in the percentage of carbon dioxide emissions at two degrees for the world to be ‘safe’ from climate change (and it would be most preferable to keep it under 1.5 degrees).

This means that only a third of the reserves in fossil fuel fields that are already operational may be extracted.

This requires the current operators to agree how this limit may be achieved, or all governments to agree how it might be enforced.

Extraction from any new fields, whether or not for fracking, would have to be offset by matching cuts in those current operations to be safe. I can hardly see that being accepted! So, what does Mr Cochrane mean by “safe”?

From: Peter Allen, Cawton, York.

IN seeeking to show that fracking will be safe and necessary, Keith Cochrane gives no concrete evidence. He repeats the old untruths of the dangers of importing gas as though we were about to be stranded without fuel or electricity.

I am afraid Third Energy are going to have to do better than this.

From: Sue Cuthbert, Newton on Rawcliffe.

KEITH Cochrane talks of the benefits to local communities and the UK more broadly.

I was speaking with a resident from Kirby Misperton who told me that residents there cannot now sell their houses. How will they benefit? What will be the benefit to road users be when the hundreds of heavy lorry movements to and from the fracking site start?

I am certainly not excited to know that Ryedale and beyond could be turned into a gas field.

MP right over sex gangs

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

I READ with interest the excellent article (The Yorkshire Post, September 4) concerning Rotherham MP Sarah Champion’s defending of her honest comments regarding sex grooming gangs in Rotherham.

Her statement – “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls” – has quite rightly brought this issue out into the open.

As she further comments: “It’s not that Yorkshire is racist, it’s that Yorkshire is very blunt and doesn’t sugar-coat anything.”

Part of the problem, I submit, is that on the likely assumption that most of the men in this case are Muslim, sadly, there is in Islam a misguided view that men are superior to women. Hence the issue is not just a case of sexual criminology but also likely to be both a religious and a racial issue. This is all very sad.

Boorish Boycott

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

EDWARD Grainger should not presume that we all love or 
hate Geoffrey Boycott or 
we agree that his devotion to Yorkshire is as ingrained as lettering in a stick of seaside 
rock (The Yorkshire Post, September 4).

However, at least one of his surviving contemporaries has challenged his credentials as a team player and his opinionated commentary and analysis sit comfortably with his poor record as a captain of Yorkshire and England.

Like his close friend, the late Brian Clough, he comes across as a remarkable but boorish individual.

Choking on own success

From: Allan Ramsay, Radcliffe Moor Road, Radcliffe.

IF seaside towns like Scarborough attract more 
traffic, they will attract more CO2, increase global warming, sea levels will rise and coastal storms will become more 
violent.

It might not happen anytime soon, but as a matter of principle, zero tolerance of speeding drivers – they accelerate global warming, not to mention lung disease and road death – is surely a must.

Benefits of a Royal baby

From: Coun Tim Mickleburgh (Lab), Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

SO Prince William’s wife is to have another baby, her third (The Yorkshire Post, September 5).

Will she or him fall foul of any Government measure to limit welfare payments to just the first two offspring?