Council votes for No Fracking in Warrington

Warrington Council has passed a motion to do everything reasonably possible within its powers and influence to oppose fracking everywhere in the Borough and in surrounding areas.

The decision was supported by all Liberal Democrats, Labour, Independents and most, but not all, of the Conservatives.

Our motion and a similar one by the Labour Group were triggered by the last Prime Minister and her Cabinet's decision to use the energy crisis as a pretext to renege on a manifesto commitment to ban fracking with a moratorium. There now appears to be consensus among the political parties represented here that fracking should not go ahead in the United Kingdom.

Originally, I approached fracking with an open mind so long as the promise of minimal environmental damage could be scientifically verified. It cannot be. Fracking can cause earthquakes, which may be mild in scale but cannot be reliably predicted. It releases hydrocarbons, gas and shale oil which contribute to greenhouse gases and global warming when used. Fracking operations are locally disruptive and can affect ground water permanently.

There is no economic case for fracking as the amount of oil and gas produced in the UK would have virtually zero effect on global energy prices. The facts have changed so I have changed my mind. Fracking would breach both the Council's and the Government's Net Zero commitments and would counter efforts to slow down global warming.