Fracking is not welcome here

Protest against fracking near Borras 2014

Plaid condemns Reform plans to frack for gas

Proposals to start fracking for gas in Flintshire and Wrexham have been condemned by Plaid Cymru councillors.

Fracking uses high-pressured water causing mini-tremors underground to fragment rock release gas. It became a major issue a decade ago when the Tory government announced licences in many parts of the UK for companies to extract gas through this controversial method. Early tests near Blackpool revealed that fracking caused mini earthquakes and that spurred on local protests. 

Among those were Wrexham residents against a site at Commonwood near Borras, which was granted a licence for a test drilling. The drilling would have potentially disturbed the seams below Gresford Colliery, where more than 260 men and boys were entombed after the infamous 1934 colliery disaster.

A protest camp was established on the site and supported by local residents. It eventually led to the planned fracking being abandoned with a moratorium imposed in 2019.

Plaid Cymru councillor Carrie Harper, who represents the nearby Queensway ward, said: "It's a decade since local campaigners saw off the threat of fracking in our communities. The combined protests forced a u-turn by the Tory government, who were very keen on this method of extraction. That wasn't surprising given the funding they were getting from fossil fuel companies.

"So it's no surprise to hear that Reform, who are mainly ex-Tory politicians also dependent on fossil fuel companies for their funding, are now pushing for fracking in our communities. Farage will be unaware of the mass protests that accompanied the drilling locally and the extent to which this will potentially impact communities right across Deeside and Wrexham. The original licensing areas extended from Mostyn on the Dee Estuary right down to the Maelor near Penley."

The Liz Truss Tory government briefly lifted the moratorium but, once she was forced to quit, the moratorium was quickly reinstated. 

Cllr Harper added: “This is drilling into the unknown. They’ll be drilling through an aquifer, drilling into old coal seams and workings with volatile pockets of methane. They will be using a cocktail of chemicals and fracturing the rock under high water pressure to free the gas – it’s an accident waiting to happen and it could happen on our doorstep.

"The proposal a decade ago to drill would have impacted on the remains of those men and boys lost in the Gresford Colliery disaster - that's not acceptable and Reform should be told that fracking is not welcome here."