SOUTH East England’s economic artery of the main London to Brighton rail line, including the Victorian Balcombe Viaduct, could be affected by “fracking” for oil in a nearby village, according to anxious residents.
Fears for railway services and commuter travel were among issues raised by an angry audience that packed into Balcombe’s village hall demanding answers from the bosses of exploration company Cuadrilla Resources.
An estimated 250 people or more left standing room only as they watched a film on the environmental and human cost of extensive shale fracturing for natural gas in North America and then heard a presentation from Cuadrilla CEO Mark Miller about the company’s plans for Sussex.
The audience, which included people from Brighton, Haywards Heath, Lindfield, Sharpthorne, Cuckfield and other areas, raised concerns about fracking chemicals leaking into the natural springs that inundate the area.
They feared contamination of drinking water with chemicals, which might or might not be carcinogenic, as well as the potential for earthquakes similar to those of around 2.5 on the Richter Scale that halted Cuadrilla’s explorations at its sites in Lancashire.
People also expressed anger that planning permission for a 1986 exploratory drill site at Lower Stumble, off the B2036, a mile from the centre of Balcombe and just half a mile from the railway station, had been renewed by West Sussex County Council without the local people having been consulted beyond their district and parish council representatives.
Mid Sussex Times
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