YP Letters: Fracking imposed against will of local people

A FEW days ago, the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid sided with the fracking company Cuadrilla to overturn the decision of Lancashire County Council and the views of the local communities it serves.

Yet fracking will be a serious polluter. The House of Commons Committee on Climate Change report (2016) says that, without the widespread employment of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to counterbalance the greenhouse gas emissions of even the most tightly-regulated fracking, the UK will drastically overshoot its reduction target for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

However, CCS technology at this scale is years away from realisation. Mr Javid’s Soviet-style imposition has rejected due democratic process and the views of a vast majority of local people. As Communities Secretary, one of his statutory duties is to support community cohesion. If he can’t do his job properly he should be sacked.

This disaster is in sharp contrast to Theresa May’s professed commitment to a new localism. Meanwhile, Ryedale’s MP Kevin Hollinrake sits on his hands. Perhaps we should ask him for guidance on what rights (if any) we might retain in Mrs May’s Britain?