You still have time to ask your MP to call for a Commons vote on fracking in special places. And to alert friends elsewhere in the country, and ask them to contact their MPs. Members of NoFiBS attended the Westminster committee last Tuesday that debated protected areas for fracking. MPs on the committee voted 10 to 8 to support the government U-turn on promised protected areas. But it's not over until... Sometime in the next couple of weeks, all MPs on the floor of the House of Commons will have the chance, by shouting, to reject this U-turn. So do contact your MP, and friends elsewhere. Contact them again, perhaps, if you have done so before. What happened at the committee? It was made up in the same proportions as parliament, with a small Tory majority. Tories sat on the left, opposition on the right. Only the chosen committee members were allowed to vote, but other MPs attended - numerous Labour members, Caroline Lucas, two SNP MPs. Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom explained why fracking was a good thing, and let slip that the government would make an announcement soon about fracking-related activity on the surface of special areas such as AONBs. This committee, she said, was considering only what could be done underground. It would, she hoped, sanction fracking at more than 1,200 metres below surface in special places, compared with 1,000 metres below in 'normal' places. Fracking, she made clear, meant the actual act of fracturing the rock down there in the depths. The above-ground preparation, activity and affects would not be covered by this vote. The government would make an announcement about all that above-ground activity soon. The debate became heated. When opposition MPs began criticising the government proposals on fracking in special places (which the government had published in July), Andrea Leadsom saw fit to accuse them of not making their concerns known about the Infrastructure Act protected areas legislation in the intervening months. Even now she has given no clarity on what the situation would be above ground in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or Groundwater Protection Zones. She made it quite clear, however, that Sites of Special Scientific Interest deserved no special protection from fracking, in the government’s view - she claimed they already had their own protections. She said government was treating the issue of above-ground fracking-related activity in national parks etc separately, and would come back with details. Michael Fabricant was not the only conservative to mention needing assurances about 'drill heads' (we know it is not just drill-heads but drilling and fracking equipment, traffic and so on) on the surface. The legislation 'protects' from just below the surface until 1,200m depth. As Dr Alan Whitehead (MP for Southampton Test) said: 'The Secretary of State could quite lawfully give permission for wells to be on the surface, should they go below 1,200m.' He suggested that the legislation has either been 'accidentally badly drafted or deliberately badly drafted to allow a coach and horses to be driven through the law.' Another member of the opposition commented that there is a difference of only 200m between the specified depths of protected and non-protected areas. What difference does that really make? A few MPs from Lancashire attended and spoke against the act, as did Dennis Skinner most passionately. Two SNP MPs highlighted the great potential for water pollution, as did Caroline Lucas, who mentioned the Environmental Audit Committee's recommendation of a moratorium on fracking. Nick Herbert (Arundel and Southdowns) voted for the legislation, and the MP for Horsham (and Balcombe) Jeremy Quin, did not attend. This is an excellent summary: http://drillordrop.com/2015/10/27/governments-spectacular-u-turn-on-fracking-regulations/ The government said they would not frack in protected areas. This legislation clearly allows them to do so. The final vote was won by the Conservatives (all of whom voted for) 10:8. As we now wait for the legislation to come before the Commons, let’s hope that enough MPs shout 'No!'.And let's encourage them to do so. A recent article by shadow ministers for energy and climate change and environment suggests that Labour is not supporting this part of the legislation. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/26/tory-u-turn-on-fracking-regulations-will-leave-safeguards-totally-inadequate Keep the pressure up by writing to your MP, or to the letters pages of local papers, to get the message back to MPs that this legislation is profoundly unpopular. No Fracking in Balcombe Society PS Notice the 'beneaths' in this excerpt from the proposed legislation: (2) A “protected groundwater source area” is any land at a depth of less than 1,200 metres beneath a relevant surface area. Definition of “other protected areas” 3.—(1) This regulation defines “other protected areas” for the purposes of section 4A of the Act. (2) “Other protected areas” are areas of land at a depth of less than 1,200 metres beneath— (a) a National Park; (b) the Broads; (c) an area of outstanding natural beauty; or (d) a World Heritage site.