LETTER: Please don’t drill in our countryside

The recent climate reports show that the world needs to choose how to build a healthy future and limit the impacts of climate change.

There are many risks involved in the drilling planned in Sussex where I was born and Shropshire where I now live.

Across the world the dangers are very visible, with the local pollution and the contribution to greenhouse gases that will increase the impacts of global warming.

The benefits of a low carbon economy have been clearly shown with many rewards for leaving the gas and oil in the ground, including clean air to breathe, clean soil to grow food and clean water in our rivers and homes.

Now is the time for communities to work together to develop a sustainable society and a healthy environment for us and nature, with renewables and improved energy efficiency.

I ask the Government and councils to take an active part in this transformation by supporting the wishes of local communites and by not following the dangerous path of drilling in our countryside.

TONY GREEN

Racecourse Avenue, Shrewsbury, Shropshire