Protests against fracking last year RMGFH101
LOCAL construction firm Acheson & Glover has denied claims that one of its quarries in Belcoo has been purchased by Tamboran, the company that previously held a licence to frack in Fermanagh.
The issue has been highlighted by the local cross-community, campaign group, Belcoo Frack Free. They claimed on social media this week that Tamboran “have bought or are in the process of buying the top quarry from Acheson and Glover”.
In February, it emerged that Tamboran had lodged another legal bid to return. Tamboran Resources (UK) submitted an application to the High Court to challenge the adoption of the Strategic Planning Policy Statement, which was published last September and included a presumption against fracking in the North. It is the third application for judicial review proceedings from Tamoran since its licence was terminated in 2014, with two others still ongoing.
The Australian company was granted a petroleum licence in 2011 with three years to inform the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) on its decision to drill or drop the plans.
It was expected that the results would also have indicated whether there were also viable quantities of shale gas in the general region taking in counties Leitrim and Cavan. The work led to months of protests by campaigners who argued that fracking would damage health, the environment, farming and tourism in the wider area.
The Green Party’s Tanya Jones, a founder member of the Fermanagh Fracking Awareness Network, has expressed concern about the rumours.
“If this is true then it’s a very worrying development. This is an issue that hasn’t gone away and certainly isn’t off the radar. It’s something that we shouldn’t be complacent about and this news very much indicates the need for the Green Party to continue to campaign against fracking until we have a total ban on it across Northern Ireland.”
Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan has said his party will continue to block fracking at Executive level if an application ever comes forward.
He told the Herald: “Tamboran are wasting their time if this is the route they are planning on going as Sinn Fein will not allow fracking to take place.
“It is high-time that Tamboran acknowledged and respected the wishes of the people of this area, and their elected representatives, and stopped trying to force fracking onto a community that remains resolutely opposed to it.”
A spokesman for Tamboran told the Fermanagh Herald: “There is not a shred of truth in these rumours.” Acheson & Glover (AG), which is headquartered in Fivemiletown, have also categorically dismissed the claim adding:
“We have had no such discussions and we have no plans to dispose of the quarry in question.”
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