There are changes to our Local Development Plan and they are very worrying. Taken in consideration with other decisions and a diquieting pattern is emerging.
The Last Hurrah of fossil fuels.
The last act of Minister Hazard when leaving his infrastructure portfolio when the Assembly collapsed in 2016 was not to bring forward the bill stopping permitted development for the drilling of exploratory wells by the Oil and Gas industry, but rather to approve the retrospective planning on the quarry in Belcoo where Tamboran tried to drill in 2014.
In May of 2019, we learned after the council elections, following an agreement between Tamboran and the Department for the Economy on timing, that a new petroleum licence application which had been lying in the Department since 2016 was to undergo a public consultation. This application was submitted and accepted while Tamboran still had three cases filed against Government Departments where figures of 1Billion damages had been mentioned in courts.
We as a community in order to protect ourselves from this industry were successful in getting an effective ban on fracking implemented in the draft LDP, by inclusion of Public Health as a consideration with regards to 'fracking'. The draft LDP went for public consultation in late 2018. We are worried that the latest draft shows the removal of that protection. There is currently a consultation ongoing where we urge people to reply and to contact their local councillor as it is very serious that Public Health is no longer being considered in relation to this industry.
Stormont returned to business with a 'new deal new decade' approach, but we have already seen the Minister for DAERA recant on promises eg an independent Environmental regulator. The Minister for the Economy said that 'fracking' was a cross cutting issue and would be brought to the full executive, but recent legislation has seen the more powers granted to Ministers to act in silo.
We now see the Minister for the Economy saying that they must run a study on Petroleum Licensing with it seems a particular emphasis on fracking. It is noticeable that health does not figure as a major consideration as the Department is seeking to procure " research into the economic, societal and environmental impacts of future onshore petroleum exploration and production, including Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG), in Northern Ireland."
We must ask why there appears to be removal of Public Health protections locally, allied with ongoing research at Stormont level which does not even address the issue of Health and the motivations behind this, because one thing is for sure, it is not what the Communities in Fermanagh want.
Fermanagh wants a Fracking ban
Fermanagh communities want this industry banned, and while that follows a legislative course, hopefully adopted by one of the many parties that have said they would bring forward legislation to ban this industry, the communities here in Fermanagh need the protection of having Public Health reinserted as a consideration in their local development plan.
Public Health, Our Landscape, and Covid19
We are in the midst of a public health crisis. However our local landscape of forests, mountains, hills and lakes have provided an outlet for people and has shown itself to be of huge value to the health, both physical and mental not just for Fermanagh's communities, but also those from further afield. We've seen the value of what we have. We're asking our councillors and the public servants working on the LDP to revert to the previous wording and give us the protection our county and communities deserve and need from this industry. Please make a submission via the FFAN website.
