YP Letters: Fracking is far from a rosy future

LORRAINE Allanson (The Yorkshire Post, July 21) tells us that Ryedale has had discreet gas wells for decades. True, but these are for conventional gas extraction, not fracking with all its attendant infrastructure.

She does not mention the amount of water which is used for one frack. This is the equivalent to two days of domestic use in two towns such as Malton and Norton. Who would take priority in days of water shortage?

A conventional gas well versus a fracking well is like comparing a Roman candle firework to an active volcano.

I’m sure that all our farmers, and owners of tourist businesses, would wish to have Lorraine Allanson explain just exactly how fracking will benefit them.

I would like her to tell us what exactly are all these jobs which would be generated by having fracking sites nearby.

In Ryedale there are now thousands of local, well informed people who understand how dangerous this industry is. This comes from knowledge from the US and Australia.

A fracking well blowout about five months ago in the US caused the deaths of five workers. I am sure that their families do not find this industry at all safe.

From: Glyn Wild, Highfield Terrace, Swinton, Malton.

LORRAINE Allanson continues to peddle the rosy industry PR image of shale gas extraction in Ryedale, but fails to address some of the key facts against it.

Cheaper energy – the low cost of shale gas in the US is due to overproduction, a different energy market and companies basically making no profit.

Stable energy – the ‘proven’ amount of available shale gas is still not known and so we do not know how long it would last. Unless we were to catastrophically damage our environment, then the renewable resources of the sun, wind and tide will last for millenia.

Jobs – Siemens in Hull is already providing quality engineering jobs building wind turbines. Offshore wind farms create jobs in servicing them.

Cost – The Government is already propping up the shale gas industry with grants and tax breaks while reducing help to renewables and cancelling key long-term projects like the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.

Impact – The few existing conventional gas well heads in Ryedale have the benefit of 20 years of mature planting around them. Hundreds of new shale gas wells in the area will not have this screening and there will be the added impact during the processing phase of lorry transportation, gas flaring, construction of pipelines and the consumption of large quantities of our currently scarce water resources.

From: Steven White, Great Edstone, York.

LET’S get some facts straight regarding shale gas (Samuel Ribansky, The Yorkshire Post, July 17) in the wake of North Yorkshire’s draft Minerals Plan.

We don’t need to frack for energy security: the Government’s own report from October 2017 told us that we’re not sitting on “huge gas reserves”. The truth is nobody really knows how much is down there, but the best estimate from industry-funded research from April 2017 is slightly less than three years’ worth at current gas usage .

The Minerals Plan nonetheless suggested some sensible controls: no fracking within 500m of housing, three miles on average between well pads and so on. Sounds fair enough?

The frackers didn’t think so: to howls of outrage and claims of “an effective ban”, they let slip that fracking won’t work unless it’s right up against where people live. This could happen if they get their way on taking planning decisions out of local authority control, on which the Government is currently consulting. Concerned readers may wish to respond to this consultation.

Sir Cliff owed an apology

From: Wendy Abbott, Boulsworth Avenue, Hull.

THE BBC claims that the ruling in the recent court case brought by Sir Cliff Richard “is not in the public interest” (The Yorkshire Post, July 20).

As a former civilian administration clerk, I cannot understand the grounds on which the magistrate was persuaded to issue the warrant.

There is a very strict procedure to follow when considering the application. The warrant must be seen to be justified. In this case it would appear the evidence was based on a single historic accusation, for which Sir Cliff was never arrested or charged.

It is all very well for Fran Unsworth to claim that the BBC acted in good faith, but perhaps the quest for a headline story may have clouded their judgement. Had the BBC made a public apology to Sir Cliff Richard for invasion of privacy, this case would never have been brought before the court.

Sequel with superb songs

From: Janet Berry, Hambleton.

I HAVE just been to see the sequel to Mamma Mia and it is a bit disappointing in that it does not have a very good story, the scenery is not as beautiful and there’s very little humour.

Having said that, it is worth seeing even if just for the music. For pure escapism and the superb Abba songs, it is still a film to see.

Stand united

From: Steve Taylor, Lincoln.

SURELY our message to the Government on devolution is that we don’t want a Brokenshire, we want One Yorkshire!

Butterfly effect

From: Glyn Gibson, Doncaster.

I BELIEVE the butterfly photograph (The Yorkshire Post, July 24) is a Tortoiseshell and 
not a Red Admiral as stated.