Speaking following the start of drilling for shale oil reserves at the Sussex village local Balcombe resident Katy Dunne challenged the exploratory drilling by Cuadrilla and said it had gone ahead despite more than 800 responses to the Environment Agency consultation on the potential of hydraulic fracturing in the area from concerned individuals.
Cuadrilla started exploratory drilling for oil reserves at the controversial shale fracking site on Friday (2 August).
The drilling, to explore the feasibility of extracting shale oil from the site, has been the subject of a campaign to stop the controversial hydraulic fracturing process, which injects water into the ground at high pressures to fracture shale rocks and release oil or gas trapped inside.
A rig 78 feet high is now in place on the site and will now implement a 3,000 foot exploratory well.
She said: “We spoke to every household in the village and the overwhelming majority of people who live in Balcombe don’t want fracking. We’ve done petitions, over 800 of us responded to the Environment Agency’s consultation, the parish council has come out against and now we can say with confidence that the residents don’t want it.”
“This industry is being forced upon us. We’ve been backed into a corner and we now feel we have no option but to take matters into own hands and protect our village.”
The comments follow reports in the Mail on Sunday at the weekend that the energy minister Michael Fallon told a private meeting that fracking would test “how thick their rectory walls are” and “whether they like the flaring at the end of the drive”.
This has since been brushed off as a “light-hearted” remark by Fallon, which has been “misconstrued”.
A Decc spokesman said: “At the moment Cuadrilla are drilling an exploratory well for oil at Balcombe. If the company wanted to hydraulically frack or conduct further testing they would have to apply for separate permissions including a separate consent from Decc.”