As you may be aware, Warwickshire County Council is writing a new Minerals planning policy. This of course is the focus of our petition at http://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/NoUCGWarks.
The current out of date policy does not deal with unconventional gas because at the time of preparing it, it was not considered likely that anybody would approach them to conduct it. Fast forward to 2013 and here we are with an out of date wholly inappropiate policy.
 At the Leamington meeting, a rather hostile man in the audience tackled me about 'fracking' in Warwickshire not being an issue as there is 'no shale in Warwickshire'. Well thats not actually true..

'Of the main potentially prospective shale gas rocks, none are present in Warwickshire in thicknesses or depths that would be expected to be commercially viable'
 Ed Hough, Geologist at British Geological Survey.

15 years ago, nobody would expect that a company would be proposing to exploit unmineable coal under Warwickshire by setting it on fire, so how about 15 years from now in the future??
 To suggest that fracking or CBM is not a threat here is both foolish and arrogant. If government policy continues as it is into the future it is not difficult to imagine that ALL and ANY exploitable gas resources will become fair game. In any case, who is to say that it will not be commercially viable even 5 years from now.
 Warwickshire County Council are well placed to write the best achievable Minerals policy that covers all of the so called unconventional gas and oil technologies. Indeed, now armed with advance warning of this UCG threat and residents concerns we believe it is there duty to do so.
Please do sign and share our petition.