Last year I and other Lib Dem councillors at Mendip were delighted to help successfully propose and negotiate a strongly worded cross-party motion through Mendip District Council, which raised concerns about the harmful impacts of ‘fracking’ for shale gas in the district. The motion was drawn up with local experts, agreed that Mendip seeks to control and prevent fracking in Mendip, and demanded proper investigations into the effects on the environment and health. A working party was formed, and we have been monitoring the situation with other councillors ever since.

With all the likely risks of fracking to Mendip’s environment, groundwater, landscape, air and health, and Bath’s Hot Springs, I was very pleased that we were able to take the action we could.

We have also just found out that the Government has agreed to withdraw the last remaining exploration licence (PEDL 227) in the Mendip area. This means there will be no fracking here in Mendip in the near future. The next Government could decide to re-licence areas across the whole country in the 14^th round later this year, but we will see what happens.

For previous news and views on this please see here.

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