INEOS Shale is pleased by today’s decision by Rotherham Council to remove its objection to the test drilling at Woodsetts on the grounds of highway safety.
This has been a waste of time and money for everyone involved and we are disappointed that this objection was mounted in the first place. The Council has now acknowledged that defending a Planning Enquiry on the grounds it presented was a futile exercise that would incur significant cost and that dropping it was pragmatic and appropriate. We regret that this outbreak of common sense didn’t occur earlier and that the Council’s frivolous attitude to public money still continues in the form of their other objections to the scheme.
Our plans are for the drilling of a single vertical core well to gain scientific knowledge of what is below the surface – as has been agreed by many councils many times in the past to support the coal industry in the region. This may or may not lead to a thriving shale industry; what is certain is that it will help to inform us all based on science, whether or not the geological characteristics necessary to underpin such an industry exist. If gas it present and can be safely extracted and flowed at commercial rates we know that this won’t add costs to councils but rather provide jobs, investment and secure energy across, in parts of Britain that need it most.
ENDS
Media contacts
Richard Longden (INEOS) 0041 21 627 7063 or 0041 7996 26123
Mark Killick (Media Zoo) 020 7384 6980 or 07836 634449
Andrew McLachlan (Media Zoo) 020 7384 6980 or 07931 377162