Between 10th May and 12th July 2018 members
of the Frack Free North Somerset group contacted 181 residents of Hutton parish in North Somerset to discover their opinions on fracking.
Hutton was chosen because Infinity Energy, who hold the
licenses to frack the coast of Somerset from Weston super Mare to Watchet, have
said that they intend to frack “somewhere to the south of Weston super Mare”,
and Hutton is a parish south of WSM.
We knocked on doors and introduced ourselves as from Frack
Free North Somerset, and that we were conducting a survey to find out whether
they give their consent to fracking in their parish. We handed over two
leaflets that we had printed, which gave information about fracking, with web
links to more extensive information, including information provided by
Government which is strongly supportive of fracking. We returned to the house
after two or three weeks and obtained signatures from people who did not give
their consent to fracking in their parish. We also recorded all those who did
not know and those who supported the idea of fracking.
RESULTS
Of the 181 people who responded,
157 signed a sheet to declare “I do not give my consent to fracking in my
parish”
17 were undecided/did not know
7 were in favour of fracking
In percentage terms, rounded to the nearest whole number,
the result is
87% do not give their consent to
fracking
9% Don’t Knows
4% Supported fracking
Two people questioned were
against fracking, but did not feel ready to put their names down on paper.
We intend to respect the confidentiality of signatories.
These results differ from national surveys of fracking,
although these national surveys also show clear opposition to fracking.
YouGov (https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/05/19/opposition-fracking-britain-grows/)
showed 43% opposed and 32% in favour, though opposition grew to 49% opposed
with 29% in favour if the question was posed as “near you”. Opposition is on a
rising trend.
A survey for the Department for Energy and Climate Change published
in April 2018 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/702640/Wave_25_Summary_Report.pdf)
showed 47% neutral, 32% opposed and 16% in favour of fracking.
The difference in our survey may be due to several factors,
including the fact that it was conducted by volunteers (several people thanked
us sincerely for our efforts) and the fact that our leaflets set out all the
known dangers of fracking, including the dangers to human health, an aspect
that is not mentioned in the Government surveys.
In fact our information left out one big challenge to
fracking posed by the present very dry summer, since fracking has a high demand
for water. The news that Government delayed
an adverse report on fracking for 3 years until it had given a permit to a
fracking company (https://bit.ly/2goI96a)
also emerged after the survey was substantially completed.
The 2011 census counted 2,582 people in Hutton, so we
surveyed 5.38% of the population.
This sample size compares well with national opinion polls,
who typically survey 1000 people out of an electorate of some 34 million, a
fraction of 0.29%
CONCLUSION
There is no “social licence” for any company to frack in
this parish of Hutton, which is in the area targeted by the holders of the
fracking licence. The ratio of 87% in opposition compared to 4 % opposed is
very convincing, and is a good reason, when set alongside the impacts of
fracking on road traffic, public and environmental health, for Infinity Energy
to give up on their intention to frack in our beautiful Somerset countryside.
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