LETTER: I’ve had enough of fracking argument

It is time for all to wake up and smell the coffee! We need more oil/gas as will many future generations to come, whether it be from fracking or drilling. It’s not all about the present but long into the future and beyond.From what I have heard from some people in the village, their only concern is their property prices falling. How will these anti-frackers/drillers react when they can’t fill their many cars, heat their houses, without exploration for resources from the ground. Selfish is a word that springs to mind, as long as we are okay, forget the rest ,they can shiver in winter sub-zero temperatures and get the bike out for a trip to shops/work.

I keep reading the ‘majority’ in Balcombe are opposed to fracking, but when Balcombe Parish Council sent a survey questionaire to 750 houses recently, only 33 per cent thought it important to reply! I know quite a lot of people in Balcombe who are just fed up with the anti-frackers, whose many signs are spoiling a village of natural beauty!

I am no expert whether fracking will harm the enviroment or not, as are many of the anti- frackers, but it seems to me if you put enough bad propaganda out, the gullible will bite the bait and be hooked for life,without giving due consideration to the present and future needs of a world that is fast running out of energy resources for future generations.

I remember the mid-eighties when Conoco first used its present site to drill for potential oil, there were no protests from any villager,no tea partys outside the site, No ‘LOCK THE GATE’ signs, no protest meetings, the villagers just let Conoco get on with it.Conoco even invited residents to look at the site to see what was happening.

It seems the ‘NIMBY’ culture is alive and well in Balcombe,sadly in my opinion!

M Thomason

Balcombe