Our Residents Association
The Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA) was formed in 2013 and objects fundamentally to the presence of the oil and gas industry in our village on grounds of air pollution, industrialisation, water use, potential water pollution, earthquakes and health impacts, toxic waste, climate change, noise, traffic, and the imposition on our once peaceful lives of stress and strife. If you would like to become a member you can do so online.
Our crowdfunding page “Stop Oil Exploration in Balcombe, Sussex” is live on CrowdJustice: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-balcombe-oil/
Or send a BACS transfer to:
Frack Free Balcombe – Sortcode: 608301 Account Number: 20317139
Help our legal fight to stop oil wells in Balcombe
Background
The well test was unanimously refused planning permission by West Sussex County Council’s planning committee in March 2021. Members decided it was not in the public interest and would have minimal benefit to the local economy. Angus Energy appealed and in February 2023 a government appointed planning inspector overruled the council’s decision. We were granted an judicial review of this decision in the High Court.
Thank you to all the people who have lodged objections and concerns over the last decade, including our Parish Council, the village Primary School, Sussex Wildlife Trust, CPRE, Friends of the Earth, along with hundreds of concerned residents, Mid Sussex District Council and all the Councillors on the planning committee at West Sussex County Council regarding flow testing the well drilled in the summer of 2013.
Balcombe is a small, friendly village located in West Sussex surrounded by beautiful countryside. With approximately 1900 residents, the village includes a tea room, a village pub, social club, St Mary’s Church, numerous sports and social clubs, a primary school and a mainline train station.
Cuadrilla and Angus Energy at the Lower Stumble Site
Angus Energy acquired a 25% Interest in the Balcombe Licence PEDL 244 and consent has been granted by the OGA (Oil and Gas Authority) and so they are the operator at the Lower Stumble drilling site.
Fracking in Balcombe and Beyond
Both Cuadrilla and Angus Energy have stated that they will not be fracking in Balcombe. The latest application involves an Extended Well Test “dealing with an unconventional and largely unaddressed reservoir – the Kimmeridge clay formation” which could involve an acid wash.
In 2015 the definition of fracking was redefined in the UK Infrastructure Act, which defines high-volume hydraulic fracturing as involving the injection into a well of 1000m3 or more or water per fracturing stage or 10000m3 or more of water during the entire fracturing process. Activities outside of this definition are not included in the current moratorium on fracking. The moratorium came into effect in 2019 after a magnitude 2.9 event was recorded on 26th August 2019 at Preston New Road, Lancashire. Operations at the Lancashire site have been suspended ever since and will remain in place “unless compelling new evidence is provided which addresses the concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity.”
Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association‘s crowdfunding page “Stop Oil Exploration in Balcombe, Sussex” is live on CrowdJustice: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-balcombe-oil/
