Wirral council votes unanimously to oppose fracking

Wirral Council has unanimously voted to oppose "all conventional gas extraction" on the peninsula including fracking.

The vote was proposed by Councillor Liz Grey, chair of Wirral's environment committee and was carried at a full countil meeting last night.

Cllr Grey's motion said: "There is no scientific evidence that fracking is safe for local communities" amd could put Wirral at "risk of earthquakes."

During an earlier debate on protecting Wirral's green belt from housing, Cllr Allan Brame said the "two issues go hand in hand."

He said: "The Conservatives are trying to pretend that the exploration of fracking is not a threat to Wirral's green belt when in fact it is."

A licence for oil and gas exploration was granted in 2008 and covers the Dee Estuary and much of south and west Wirral is expected to expire in 2039. 

Despite comments recently made by three Conservative councillors that said it was a "pathetic attempt at public manipulation" to say Wirral is at risk of fracking, the motion passed unanimously.

This included all Conservative councillors in attendance despite the criticism of the UK government in the wording.

The motion said: "The current incumbent believes that local communities should just put up with the risk of earthquakes, we do not share the government's disregard for their economic and environmental wellbeing, nor the disregard for the climate emergency.

"Council restates its opposition to all unconventional gas extraction including underground coal gasification, coal bed and methane fracking under Wirral, its offshore waters and Dee and Mersey Estuaries."

Prime Minister Liz Truss previously told BBC Lancashire she will "make sure there is local consent if we are to go ahead in any particular area with fracking."

A licence for underground coal gasification (UCG) for land under the Dee estuary was granted until plans were suspended in 2015.

The UK Government pulled support for UCG in 2016 and fracking in 2019. There was massive opposition, particularly from MP Margaret Greenwood who was a candidate at the time.

UCG involves turning coal into gas by igniting it underground. This is different from fracking which involves injecting water at high pressures to extract shale gas from rock. 

Council leader Janette Williamson will now write to Jacob Rees-Mogg, Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, asking him to "invest instead in renewable energy and subsidise adequate home insulation programmes."

70,000 people have signed a petition started by a Greasby activist to call for no fracking or UCG nationwide.