Hundreds of residents in Doncaster village oppose plans that could pave way for fracking

Hundreds of residents in a Doncaster area village say they are opposed to an energy company's plans to build exploratory wells that could pave the way for fracking.
Misson residents take part in demonstrations against fracking plans.Misson residents take part in demonstrations against fracking plans.
Misson residents take part in demonstrations against fracking plans.

Around 363 people living in Misson have signed a petition in opposition to a planning application from IGas requesting permission to build two wells at a site in Spring Road.

This comes just two weeks after Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee gave IGas the green light to install four groundwater monitoring boreholes in a bid to test the area’s water supply, and in doing so, its suitability for the controversial process of fracking for shale gas.

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The petition has been circulated by members of Misson Parish Council, who say they have also conducted a survey of residents over the application.

According to Jayne Watson, parish councillor and chair of the Misson Community Action Group, 87 per cent of people contacted about the application said they were opposed to it.

She added: “The figures speak for themselves. Communities throughout the UK have shown that they are opposed to shale gas production.

“Fracking does not have a social licence yet the Conservative Government are determined to ride roughshod over local democracy by forcing this on to unwilling communities.”

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Details of the survey and the petition have been submitted to representatives of Nottinghamshire County Council ahead of the application going before the planning committee later this year.

Work is due to start shortly on the four groundwater monitoring boreholes, the application for which was also opposed by hundreds of Misson residents.

The deep groundwater monitoring boreholes will be drilled using a rotary water well drilling rig with a fully extended height of 5.5m.

The process could take up to 12 months to be completed, according to documents that went before the council.

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Commenting on the approved application for boreholes, a spokesman for IGas said: “Data gathered from these boreholes will provide further information relating to the current local surface and groundwater quality and will allow for a full understanding of conditions before, during and after our operations.

"We welcome the decision from the council’s planning committee to approve the drilling of monitoring borehole.