Fracking threat
Earlier this year, Lancashire council refused to grant permission for fracking. In case anyone doesn’t know, this is the process of drilling for natural gas by fracturing the rocks deep in the earth by forcing fluid into them. But now, in a move that makes a mockery of local democracy, Greg Clark, the minister responsible for overseeing local government, has announced that Westminster will have the power to override any objection by councils.
This is profoundly undemocratic, and potentially downright dangerous. A friend of mine living in Preston, Lancashire, has already felt his end-of-terrace house shaken by fracking tremors.
Should we not be able to invoke the ancient principle of Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos. (The owner owns also the right from heaven to the deepest earth.)
Clearly, this right is no longer ours. Time to resist.
Alison Prince
