Isle of Wight Green Party leader, Vix Lowthion shares this latest news. Ed
Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the South East of England, will be visiting the Isle of Wight next weekend to lead the campaign against the licence to drill for oil in Compton Bay.
The extraction of oil from fractured limestone and sandstone reservoirs is planned by UKOG (UK Oil and Gas) for two sites – outside Arreton and off-shore back of the Wight from Compton Bay to Atherfield Point.
This area of the Island is a haven for both tourists and wildlife, and regularly appears in lists of top beaches to visit – both nationally and internationally.
A very real threat
Daniel James, chair of the IW Green Party and candidate for the Greens in the Central Wight council by-election said,
“The Conservative manifesto in 2017 pledged to overhaul planning laws to treat exploration drilling as ‘permitted development’. There is a very real threat to our beaches, our wildlife and our drinking water from such fossil fuel extraction. As the County Councillor I will fiercely fight against oil drilling on our Island.”
Keith Taylor MEP added
“We cannot see the beautiful Island countryside pock-marked with oil wells. New oil and gas drilling operations are an affront to local communities and a dangerous form of climate change. We must keep fossil fuels in the ground.
“The scientific consensus on climate change has never been greater and we have been told that the only way we have a chance of averting catastrophe is by leaving large reserves of oil in the ground.”
Public meeting
A public meeting is being held on Saturday 20th January at 11.30am at Wilberforce Hall in Brighstone, where residents can hear personally from Keith Taylor of his visits to fracking and oil drilling sites across the UK, and what we can do to fight oil drilling on the Isle of Wight.
Refreshments – tea, coffee and homemade cakes – will be available, with all donations to support the work of independent campaign group Frack Free Isle of Wight.
