This article is from page 16 of the 2012-01-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
MORE than 50 West Clare residents and members of the Clare Fracking Concerned group packed the public gallery of Clare County Council last night to express their support for moves by the elected members of the local authority to ban fracking in Clare.
Despite a number of procedural objects from the executive of Clare County Council, the councillors voted unanimously to amend the County Development Plan to specifically ban fracking – making Clare the first county in Ire;and to take such a step.
Councillors also voted unanimously to write to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbittee (LAB) asking that the process of fracking be banned in Clare. This follows a motion put forward by West Clare councillor Gabriel Keating (FF) – calling for a ban to fracking in Clare.
This follows as address by fracking export, Aedín McLoughlin, at last nights January meeting of Clare County Council. Ms McLoughlin restated a number of potential problems concerning fracking, such as the pollution of water supplies and the possibility of localised earthquakes but also identified a number of less publicised difficulties – such as the destruction of a natural barrier from radon and the production of radio active uranium during the drilling process.
Speak on the proposal Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that fracking was “raping the natural environment for the benefit of “gamblers” in the petroleum industry. “I say this as a land owner but in reality we don’t own the land, we hold it in trust for the next generation. It is bad enough that we have managed to bankrupt the next generation never mind poisoning the land as well,” he said. Meanwhile, in a separate motion, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) criticised what he described as a lack of support from the executive of Clare County Council to change the County Development Plan to include a specific ban on fracking. “We need to put into action the words that we have said today. I completely reject the directions coming from the executive of Clare County Council regarding the change of the County Development Plan – I reject this out of hand,” said . “This actions bring Clare into the spotlight of the petroleum industry’s attempts to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Clare is the bottom of the barrel for these people. We have an opportunity to send a clear signal that we are not willing to participate and sit idly by.” A spokesperson from Clare County Development Plan said that because Clare County Council does not have a role in granting planning permission for fracking developments that it would be meaningless to change the 2011 to 2017 plan to include a ban on fracking. Despite these objections councillors voted unanimously to amend the county development plan.