THE people of Fermanagh are being urged to have their voice heard in the fight against fracking, by responding to a government consultation on the future of the environmentally damaging practice which is due to close next week.
The Department for the Economy consultation on a ‘Onshore Petroleum Licensing Policy for Northern Ireland’, which covers the hydraulic fracturing better known as fracking, closes next Friday, April 12.
The consultation sets out four policy option, with the Department stating its preferred option is to introduce a moratorium and eventual legislative ban on all forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production in the North.
The local Council has already submitted its response to the consultation, setting out its strong opposition to the practice in its response. The Council refers to the MACE report it commissioned in 2022, which outlined the potential impact of fracking on the area, such as causing noise, light, air and water pollution, potentially cause earthquakes, and cause damaged to our local agriculture, tourism and manufacturing industries.
The report stated it would also impact community wellbeing and happiness, and impact public health in various different ways.
This MACE report, along with other internationally renowned reports on the practice, are available to read on the Lamp Fermanagh website.
To respond to the consultation, and read the Department’s own documents and reports on the potential harms of fracking, click here.
For more on this story see next week’s Fermanagh Herald.
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