Up-coming event: 8th November : West Sussex County Council Oil and Gas Exhibition. The Council House, North Street, Chichester. 10.00am – 4.00pm. Council information event about oil and gas exploration, with the Environment Agency (EA), the County Council, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in attendance. Anti fracking group stalls will be there including people from Balcombe. Sign up to attend the event, by emailing: oilandgas@westsussex.gov.uk This could be a good opportunity to tell WSCC how you feel. Please do attend and let them know that people who are ‘anti-fracking’ are everyday people from all walks of life, who have excellent reasons for taking this stance. Please make any people you know who can get to Chichester aware that this is happening. The Fracks Separating the Parties. ‘We call on WSCC to declare the county a Frack Free zone…’ began the petition being debated by our county councillors on Friday 17th October. Since beginning my research into fracking, I have resolved to support whichever party or persons oppose it. I attended the debate and as a teacher, my conclusion for most of our Councillors was ‘must try harder’. A handful of speakers for and against, ended with the feeling, as one councillor said, that this subject needed a much fuller airing. My mid-term report on the conservatives would be a resounding ‘must improve listening skills’- to their electorate rather than to the paymaster. Their ability to side-step the issue by putting forward a new motion, (not to take a stance on it) thus diluting the focus of the debate, was well-noted. ‘Keep focused on the subject in hand’ would be on my report to the UKIP councillor, who mentioned that ‘in Leningrad they were forced to eat dogs’. Top marks for answering the question go to the labour councillors and one lib dem, who stayed focused on the issue of public concern around fracking - Mr Buckland suggested ‘we should listen to the members of the public’ (a novel idea for some). All the labour candidates present, and one lib-dem (quoted above), voted in support of the petitioners. This petition put forward by ‘Keep Kirdford and Wisborough Green’ reached three and a half thousand, the Balcombe petition has reached over five and a half thousand…at what point will our elected officials feel it is time to listen? The councillors mentioned the WSCC event in Chichester (above) on 8th November which will be a chance to tell them in person. By a Balcombe resident. The Judicial Review on the Balcombe permission to flow-test begins tomorrow, with any luck we may know the decision before Christmas. A good source for further information: http://www.frackfreesussex.co.uk/ Please tell your MP's not to vote for the pro-fracking changes in the law proposed. Sign the Greenpeace petition here: https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/stop-fracking-law Lobby members of the Department of Energy and Climate Change: Correspondence@decc.gsi.gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change Lobby the shadow DECC (Labour): http://www.shadowdecc.org.uk/get-in-touch Resistance is growing every day, we need to make sure our elected representatives know!