Issue - meetings

No petitions have been submitted for presentation to this meeting.

There were no petitions presented to this meeting.

To receive a petition organised by Mrs Iona Hassan, details attached

1,500 signatories (unverified) relate to Wiltshire Residents

The Chairman reported receipt of a petition for presentation to the meeting, details of which were presented. He reminded the meeting that, as the petition had not passed the threshold number of signatories for a council debate to be scheduled, there would be no debate on the petition. 

Using his discretion, the Chairman invited all four speakers who had registered to speak on this item to address the meeting;

Mrs Iona Hassan, in presenting her petition, emphasised her view of the importance of Councillors understanding in depth the issue of fracking, so that they would be able to take into account the environmental impacts when considering related planning applications.. She recognised that Council may not be able to support this, and asked if the moratorium was not supported, that Council support Councillor Jeff Osborn’s motion to be considered later in the meeting  (minute no. 16 refers).

Mrs Bridget Penny asked the Council to consider how it would report unbiased information, and how it would address concerns over right to access land specifically whether land owners could refuse access to land by developers.

Mr John Medlicott asked why, if it was true that the British Geological Survey had concluded that there were no methane and coal seams in Wiltshire, licenses had been granted, and wondered if there were any other possible reasons for drilling.

Mr Richard Craft stated that the Wiltshire Mineral Plan, agreed in 2001, had been developed before unconventional gas and oil drilling had been developed. He argued that, now these new techniques had arrived, it was time for the Council to review the Mineral Plan to ensure they were prepared before applications were submitted. He drew attention to the fact that Somerset Council had recently adopted a revised Minerals Plan which took into account unconventional gas and oil exploration methods.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Hassan for presenting her petition and other speakers for their contribution.  The Chairman referredtothe motion on fracking from Councillors Jeff and Helen Osborn for possible debate later in the meeting. He explained that unfortunately he would not be bringing that item forward on the agenda, as consideration of the budget and council tax issues must take precedent.