PROPOSED FRACKING IN HYNDBURN OPPOSED

Hyndburn Borough Councillors have been made aware that Osprey Oil and Gas Ltd has been granted licences for shale gas exploration covering the Burnley area, focusing on coalfield and brownfield sites.

David Penney at Keep East Lancashire Frack Free said, "Osprey holds 2 Petroleum Exploration Development Licences (PEDLs) in East Lancashire. They intend to initially concentrate their exploratory activities to identify shale gas deposits with seismic testing and bore holes in licence area SD73/83, which covers the three Council areas of Pendle, Burnley and Hyndburn."

While the Osprey licences do not cover the adjacent Blackburn area, another exploratory company, Aurora, holds the licence covering the Blackburn with Darwen area. Aurora is implementing its licence in West Lancashire and may be considering doing so in the Blackburn area.

The red bordered Map identifies one of the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences in the Ordinance Survey Grid Squares SD 73 and SD 83, in which Osprey is said to be to concentrating their activities. As the map shows, operations will cover significant parts of Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle as well as the area around Whalley in the Ribble Valley.

These areas were licenced out for exploration during the 14th round of onshore licences from the Oil and Gas Authority in December 2015. The web page showing the details can be found here.

Rishton ward Councillor and Cabinet member for Parks and Open Spaces, Cllr Ken Moss, said, "As a new source of fuel I do feel that fracking is a step backwards rather than exploration of renewables. There have also been tremendous disruptions caused by protests at the Cuadrilla site in West Lancashire and that is something neither we nor the local police force can afford to see repeated here."

He added, "Any application for drilling would have to be evidence-based and abide by planning laws which in some cases override the wishes of local Councils. However, due to the potential impact on the local taxpayers, I cannot support any attempts to start drilling in Hyndburn."