We need a local candidate, an independent candidate, a candidate who cares about this constituency, a candidate who can think for himself.
Don Davies is the only candidate who can offer a genuine alternative in this general election.
Potential risk to your home
If you live in or near an area that is licensed for petroleum exploration development (a PEDL area), your home may be adversely affected by fracking. The possible consequences for homeowners are as follows:
- The fracking company may want to detonate explosives on your land;
- You may find it difficult to obtain buildings insurance;
- The value of your home may go down, and
- You may find it difficult to sell your property.
Experiences with the fracking company, Cuadrilla
Some homeowners living on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire have had serious problems with the fracking company, Cuadrilla. In 2011 there were two minor earthquakes near Blackpool in Lancashire, and subsequently two reports[i] [ii] both attributed the quakes to fracking operations by Cuadrilla. At first most local residents did not realise that the earth tremors had anything to do with fracking. However, they became extremely concerned about seismic testing in 2012, when Cuadrilla used explosives and ground vibrators for geological surveys and “repeatedly trespassed on to private land”.[iii]
Local resident, Mark Mills, informed The Guardian (2.8.13)[iv] that, although he told a Cuadrilla operator not to come back on his land, they were “extremely unpleasant” and repeatedly trespassed into his garden to lay cables and drive in dozens of sensors to make seismic recordings. He copied the operators’ maps which allegedly showed a mark indicating the site of a planned detonation near to a gas main and his sceptic tank. Mr Mills took legal action against Cuadrilla, and in February 2013 the company paid him compensation and paid his legal fees. Subsequently, Mr Mills claimed further compensation for damage to his property following explosions set off on his neighbour’s property. Other local residents in the same area reported that Cuadrilla contractors had trespassed on their land as well. This article also states that Cuadrilla “failed to inform the government for six months that small earthquakes triggered by their drilling had deformed the well casing that is designed to prevent the contamination of ground water”.
(N.B. Seismic testing is usually carried out before any drilling takes place. It involves detonating explosives buried very shallow and sometime also the use of “thumper” trucks. It may cause damage to the landscape and nature but it does not cause earthquakes).
How could fracking affect your buildings insurance?
Local residents on the Fylde coast now claim that many insurance companies are not willing to provide buildings insurance to cover damage caused by fracking. Cuadrilla paid some compensation to homeowners, but apparently they will not do this if there is any evidence of previous structural damage.[v]
If homeowners already have buildings insurance, it will usually cover structural damage caused by fracking, but insurance companies are becoming reluctant to cover such losses because fracking has been blamed for ‘inducing’ earthquakes. In the United States there is widespread fracking, and in March 2017 the U.S. Geological Survey stated that 7 million Americans were at risk of ‘induced seismicity’.[vi] For example, earthquakes used to be rare in the state of Oklahoma, but after ten years of soaring shale gas and oil production, Oklahoma had 2,500 earthquakes in 2016, including three which were greater than magnitude 5.0. Earthquake insurance is now “almost impossible to buy in Oklahoma”.[vii]
Most home and commercial property insurance policies exclude losses arising from pollution or contamination. An article in Farmers Weekly[viii] warned farmers and landowners not to rely on insurance cover to protect them against losses such as contamination or damage to crops arising from nearby fracking operations. A farmer, who gave an energy company permission to dig a test borehole for coal bed methane gas on his land, said he regretted this when he learned how potentially damaging the drilling operation could be.[ix] He commented: “I learned that any pollution of the two springs on my land would devalue the farm 60 – 70%, and that if my cows died I would not get compensation. All I would have received was up to £4,000 to put the land back to what it was.”
If you live near a fracking site, you may face an additional uninsured risk of contamination spread by flooding. As one in five of the 150 PEDL areas recently announced have been identified as having a significant risk of flooding, contamination could be caused by polluted water from a fracking site being spread during exceptional floods.[x]
If your home is within a five miles of a fracking site, you may also have to pay more for buildings insurance to cover potential explosions.[xi]
The impact on house prices
A government report has suggested that properties located within one mile of a fracking site could see a reduction in price of up to 7%[xii], but this may be a significant underestimate. According to The Sunday Times,[xiii] hundreds, perhaps thousands of shale gas sites could be built, mostly in rural areas, and “fracking could be such a blight on homes near drilling sites that they will be placed into lower council tax bands.” The Valuation Office Agency, which sets the values of properties for council tax purposes, said that any industrial or commercial development near homes, including fracking sites, could reduce their value.
Dianna Westgarth, the owner of a five bedroom house 300 yards away from a potential fracking site on the Fylde peninsula, told The Daily Mail[xiv] that the threat of fracking had wiped £535,000 (over 70%) off the value of her home. She said, “Two other estate agents said they would rather not even comment, because the possibility of fracking meant they couldn’t actually say if it was worth anything at all.”
A year later, The Express[xv] stated: “Fracking is set to wipe £75 billion off the value of Britain’s homes (…) Leading property experts have voiced fears the controversial drilling technique could bring the housing market close to COLLAPSE in large parts of the country.” This article lists 18 areas where house prices are most affected and reports that a survey of 60 estate agents in these areas found that most thought house prices could drop by up to 10% while a handful anticipated losses of up to 70%. Paula Higgins of the HomeOwners Alliance told The Express: “Homeowners are being kept in the dark on how fracking will affect them. Some are already bearing the brunt through aborted sales.”
Could fracking take place under your home?
Yes, it could, and the fracking company does not even have to seek your permission! The Infrastructure Act 2015 gives companies the right to use underground land 300 metres and below for the purpose of exploiting oil and gas without notifying owners (subject to various conditions) and the right to leave pipes or substances in the land. To speed up the planning process, the Act also states that if a planning authority has not responded to an application within a specified period, certain planning conditions can be ‘deemed discharged’ – in other words, it will be assumed that the company has complied with certain conditions whether they have or not.
In October 2016, the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, granted permission to Cuadrilla Resources to frack underneath homes at the Preston New Road site near Blackpool.[xvi]
Can they frack on your land, if you don’t want them to?
Yes they can! If an agreement cannot be reached between the operator and the landowner(s), then under Section 7 of the Petroleum Act 1998 the operator who holds a licence (PEDL) can obtain rights to ‘enter upon the land to sink boreholes, for the erection of buildings and the laying and maintenance of pipes, the right to obtain a water supply or other substances and the right to dispose of water or other liquid.’[xvii] This right appears to include seismic surveys to find out what petroleum, gas or minerals lie underground.[xviii]
This may explain why operators working for Cuadrilla thought they could trespass on to private land in Lancashire, lay cables, install sensors and mark a site for the detonation of explosive charges. However, Cuadrilla subsequently had to settle a legal claim made by the homeowner by paying legal costs and compensation.[xix]
References:
[i] Ch. A. Green et al, “Preese Hall shale gas fracturing – review & recommendations for induced seismic mitigation”, G Frac Technologies, Keele University and British Geological Survey, prepared for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), April 2012, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48330/5055-preese-hall-shale-gas-fracturing-review-and-recomm.pdf (19/09/2013)
[ii] C.J. de Pater and S. Baisch, “Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity – Synthesis Report”, report commissioned by Cuadrilla Resources, http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Geomechanical-Study-of-Bowland-Shale-Seismicity_02-11-11.pdf (19/09/2013)
[iii] The Guardian, 2.8.13, “Fracking firm Cuadrilla trespassed on private land for geological surveys”.
[iv] The Guardian, 2.8.13, “Fracking firm Cuadrilla trespassed on private land for geological surveys”
[v] www.stopfyldefracking.org.uk/further-update-on-property-insurance-and-potential-damage-caused-by fracking/25.7.13
[vi] www.usgs.gov/news/new-usgs-maps-identify-potential-ground-shaking-hazards-2017; http://www.globalpossibilities.org/usgs-finally-admits-that-fracking-causes-earthquakes/
[vii] Reuters, 12.5.16, “Fracking-related quakes have made earthquake insurance almost impossible to buy in Oklahoma”.
[viii] Farmers Weekly, 2.6.16, “Insurance unlikely to cover fracking damage, farmers warned”
[ix] The Guardian, 17.7.15, “Beware permitting fracking, says farmer who allowed coal methane borehole.”
[x] Independent, 9.1.16, “Householders affected by floods face insurance double-whammy if they live nearby planned fracking sites”.
[xi] Defra, 2015, Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts [de-redacted version]
[xii] Defra, 2015, Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts [de-redacted version]
[xiii] The Sunday Times, 24.8.14, “Fracking digs deep hole in house values”
[xiv] The Daily Mail, 24.8.14, “Fracking wiped £535,000 off my home’s value”
[xv] The Express, 18.7.15, “MAPPED: Could YOUR home see its value COLLAPSE due to fracking?”
[xvi] The Financial Times, 6.10.16, “UK fracking go-ahead boosts shale gas industry”
[xvii] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-petroleum-licensing-guidance and http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/17/section/7
[xviii] http://halsallagainstfracking.org.uk/news/threat -of-seismic-survey/
[xix] The Guardian, 2.8.13, “Fracking firm Cuadrilla trespassed on private land for geological surveys”.
Do you live in or near a potential fracking area?
The following two websites contain interactive maps which you can use to find out whether your home is in or near an area that is licensed for petroleum exploration development (a PEDL area). You may also want to check whether your water supply comes from a reservoir that is in a PEDL area.
https://drillordrop.com/could-your-area-be-fracked-under-the-new-oil-and-gas-licences/
http://frack-off.org.uk/locations/
It is worth remembering that almost two-thirds of the UK’s land will be available for fracking companies to licence (The Guardian, 17.12.13, Fracking companies entitled to licences on more than 60% of British land).
These two Greenpeace maps show the companies who have been awarded PEDL licences and the 64% of land in England which is under consideration for fracking:
And here is the official website for UK Onshore Oil and Gas:
T Shirts for the Next Election Special Offer!
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Now get the T shirt!
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email foxout@protonmail.com with your size and we will deliver (if you live within five miles of Portishead)
Thank You
Don’s Campaign Team would like to thank you all for your support over the frantic weeks of this campaign and to say how proud we are to have been supporting such a great candidate.
Don has answered hundreds of e mails from constituents asking questions on a wide variety of subjects on the local and national issues that concern them. This response from a lady in Portbury is typical of the kind of replies that Don has received.
Dear Don Davies,
Thank you for a good response to my enquiry.
Think this is the first time I have seen someone who gave me what feels like a ‘personal’ response and also relayed your experience of a subject which is very important to me and many others, so thank you for that.
I wish you all the best in the election
Yours Sincerely,
TOMORROW IS THE DAY TO VOTE FOR DON DAVIES
Don’t stay at home.
Don’t forget to vote.
Don’t vote for anyone but Don Davies
Remember that rain is good for you especially when you’re voting!
Don Davies – an “Independent Worth a Vote”
It’s official! InFacts, the highly regarded national News and Current Affairs website “dedicated to making the most of post-referendum Britain”, has selected 6 independent candidates whom electors should consider voting for – https://infacts.org/6-anti-brexit-independents-may-worth-vote/ and Don Davies is one of them!
There’s only one thing wrong with this endorsement of Don. InFacts says “The constituency voted 52% remain last year. Sadly, nobody has a chance of defeating Brexiter Liam Fox with his 23,000 majority.
But we know this isn’t necessarily the case. We have already shown in Don’s advert in the North Somerset Times that 48,621 people did not vote for Liam Fox. That’s over half the electorate. We will win if we get behind a single candidate.
We know that Labour and the LibDems will carry on with their battle for third place, but for the first time we have a genuine opportunity to win – an opportunity to get Fox out after 25 years!
Your Vote. Your Choice.
——–
Remember too that youth votes will decide this election. I’m #votingforhope
———
And what with all the fake news being put out in this election it’s also good to know that InFacts has a code of ethics.
InFacts is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards. It will fulfil its journalistic mission to make the fact-based case for Britain to remain in the EU in an open, courteous and fair-minded way.
Our journalists:
- hold accuracy sacrosanct. They check their facts systematically and thoroughly
- correct an error quickly and openly
- don’t fabricate or plagiarise stories
- obtain material by honest, straightforward and open means
- protect the identity of sources who supply information in confidence
- don’t pay for a story
- don’t take personal advantage of information gained in the course of their duties
- refuse any bribe or other inducement to influence, distort or suppress a story
- seek a comment from any party targeted in a story they’re preparing for publication
- don’t publish an article without the approval of an editor
- declare potential conflicts of interest to their editor
Repeal the Fox Hunting Ban? NO!
I have had more than 100 e mails from North Somerset constituents who are deeply concerned that Theresa May has promised a vote to repeal the fox hunting ban if the Conservatives win the general election and on Bank Holiday Monday thousands marched in London to protest against the proposed vote.
I have responded to the constituents who have e mailed, saying that I believe cruelty to animals is more widespread than most people realise, from poor treatment on the farm right through to the current fad for designer pets, and that penalties and enforcement are insufficient. As I used to volunteer at Horse World in Whitchurch, I saw first-hand the victims of cruelty.
The most important point I have tried to make is that, as an independent candidate, I am led by the needs and aspirations of the residents of North Somerset, not any party machine. Although this proposal is being touted as a “free vote” we know that the great majority of Conservatives will fall in line behind their leader to vote the repeal through.
So I am glad to be able to say right now that I would NOT support a repeal of the ban on fox hunting. There is of course one proviso: I need your vote to help me get to Westminster in the first place. If I have your vote on 8 June then I will guarantee to vote against this in the Commons.
Don Davies, Independent Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset.
Rail Travel in North Somerset – Expensive and Overcrowded
Don has been a keen walker and cyclist for many years and, in his policy statement (https://dondaviesindependent.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/policy-statement/ ) he stated that he “will work with others to develop positive alternatives to the car: solving congestion requires us to change the need for the use of cars. Building more roads only creates more traffic. Effective and efficient rail and bus services must be prioritised”
Over the weekend Don has been checking up on just how “effective” transport in North Somerset really is and it is clear where some of the problems start as this short video shows.
Don Davies at Bristol Airport
While Don was out campaigning yesterday he found time to stop off at Bristol Airport and record a brief piece to camera to highlight the issues confronting airport workers and air travellers in North Somerset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF09PRbd_9Y
This is where being an independent candidate is really important. It is vital for North Somerset to have someone in parliament who is there to represent their interests and not the interests of a party manifesto dreamt up in a Westminster think tank. Don is clear about the need to balance employment and airport expansion against the needs of residents and the potential increases in pollution.
People tend to forget that the real work of parliament takes place in the select committees not on the green benches of the chamber and it is here where Don can and will be working for us, his constituents.
Are you #foxout? Doing the Electoral Maths
We occasionally hear defeatist talk that there is no point in voting for Don because he can’t win. This is based on the fact that, locally, the three opposition parties have rejected a progressive alliance against Liam Fox. But that doesn’t have to be true. A critical friend has done “the maths”.
We’ve spoken to people who don’t usually vote, people who usually vote for a party and even some Conservatives, they are voting independent in this election…
Are you #foxout?
Don Davies is the only vote that can unite sufficient number of opposition votes.
Don Davies - Independent 