Letters - November 2, 2016

ENERGYLancashire will not see frack benefitsI'm delighted to see that Lancashire for Shale is getting ready to hear all about the fantastic employment potentials in the shale gas industry and has invited speakers from Scotland's offshore business to contribute to the seminars (Gazette, October 27).
The new Lancashire For Shale campaign groupThe new Lancashire For Shale campaign group
The new Lancashire For Shale campaign group

I hate to pour cold water on things, but when prospecting for oil and gas offshore, having identified the site, it is then necessary to survey for tides, current, wind drift and the geological stability of the sea bed. Next a bespoke drilling platform is constructed which takes all these factors into account. Finally, usually in spring or summer – certainly a weather-dependent operation – the rig is towed into position, ready for exploration to begin.

This operation has provided some 2,000 men with two years’ employment, all in the supply sector. When Cuadrilla made their one disastrous attempt at exploration at Preese Hall it took five men six weeks.

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You will note Cuadrilla’s conditional promise “where possible, it would like to see Lancastrian businesses maximize the benefits from its activities”. I fear the benefits that Lancashire businesses may hope to maximize will be miniscule.

Cuadrilla have already admitted that many of the 4,000 jobs talked about must come from outside the area; what the company fails to mention is that all around the world wherever fracking has happened, for every 10 fracking jobs created, 18 are lost in agriculture. So even if the figure of 4000 jobs created were correct, it will be at the expense of 7,200 existing jobs employing Fylde residents.

The government’s response is that this won’t happen in this country. Really? Why not? It’s happened everywhere else. Again, the politicians tell us that we have “Gold Standard” regulations – our offshore regulations are far better and more relevant than those onshore regulations developed by America, Canada and Australia.

I’m sorry, but Lancashire businesses voting for fracking is like pheasants voting for an extension to the shooting season. And some of those pheasants survive!!

Jules Burton

Roseacre Road

Roseacre

ENERGY

Where have all the fracking jobs gone?

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In your article “Shale gas supply chain events plan” (Gazette, October 27) you report that delegates at the North West Energy Task Force (NWETF) supply chain conference heard that a shale gas industry could support 4,000 supply chain jobs.

Wait a minute! Hasn’t NWETF repeatedly told us that shale could support 64,500 jobs? This figure was also quoted by Sajid Javid when he anounced the outcome of Cuadrilla’s appeal.

So, NWETF, why this 15-fold discrepancy? Where are the other 60,500 jobs? Opponents of shale have never trusted anything the industry and its cheerleaders have told them – and here is yet another example of why.

Dr Stephen Garsed

via email

BONFIRE NIGHT

Let’s get tough on fireworks menace

It’s about time that the shops started selling fireworks no more than two days before Bonfire Night. I was walking my dog when some lads let a rocket off.

My dog shot across the road, nearly getting both of us under the front of a car.

There should be tougher laws against fireworks being sold.

Mrs S

via email

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