A VERY interesting choice of letters in the Gazette & Herald (January 11) from the anti-fracking supporters, promoting the “extremely friendly local protection camp” and also being “very pleasant and caring” - that is unless you disagree with them.

I note that they neither own the land or have permission to be there, or to quote Mr Crane, “We have taken possession of a piece of land” and quoted various pieces of the law to the engineer sent to erect a gate at the entrance, or to be exact, the laws that he would be breaking with hefty fines should he succeed in doing so.

It must be nice to pick and choose which laws to accept and abide by - the “good” ones that support the cause (as above) and not the “bad” ones that don’t.

The high court ruled in favour of fracking, as did North Yorkshire County Council. Government makes the legislation, “the people” choose the members of parliament.

In Ryedale 692 residents voted for the only candidate standing on an anti-fracking ticket. 51,673 did not.

I am not particularly bothered one way or the other about fracking, but in my opinion the strategy is wrong. Changing the legislation should have been the first priority.

Selecting the right MPs to block legislation would have made more sense than a field full of protesters.

Second, a picket line near the proposed fracking site would probably get more help, support and encouragement than setting up what looks like a refugee camp some distance away by, in effect, trespassing on private land.

I wish them good luck in their endeavours, I may even wave at them as I go by on the way to work, but they still won’t win.

Stephen Preston, Malton

Protect Ryedale

NEWS emerged last week that Third Energy, the company with permission to commence fracking in Ryedale, had yet again failed to file their company accounts on time.

Consequently, the company was warned that it had until February 6 or face being struck off the companies’ register and dissolved.

Many Ryedale residents have raised the importance of a financial bond being established, but these requests were ignored by NYCC and the Environment Agency.

Furthermore DECC could have requested a parent company guarantee from Third Energy’s ultimate owners Barclays, but decided to accept one from Third Energy’s holding company based in the Cayman Islands instead.

Third Energy Holdings Limited has been based in the Cayman islands since 2011 at an address described by USA President Barak Obama as “either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world”.

Its only by shining a bright light to the way this company operate, that we can see that we cannot trust them to finance either safe working practices or the clean up afterwards when things go wrong.

Scores of fracking companies in the US have gone bankrupt leaving a bitter legacy of polluted drinking water and poisoned soil for communities and local authorities to clean up.

Standing up to the fracking industry and campaigning for a ban on fracking is crucial if were are to protect the Ryedale way of life and avoid leaving a dangerous legacy for future generations to clean up.

Russell Scott, Ryedale and London

Time to take heed

I, FOR one, welcome the Kirby Misperton protection camp. A much more unsettling neighbour would be a fracking site.

Let there be no doubt that many more fracking site applications will be made if the five test fracks at Kirby Misperton’s KM8 well prove successful from Third Energy’s point of view. This could be in the form of a blanket application to cover 10 such sites.

Of course, people will want to resist such a blight on their lives and such a misguided search in the wrong place (ie underground fossil fuel) to provide for our future energy needs.

After making homes and businesses much more energy-efficient and thereby tackling fuel poverty, our priority must be to further develop our above ground indigenous renewable energy sources of which the rate of installation has slowed down markedly in the last year in Britain despite the necessity to reduce climate changing emissions fast.

Unless we invest in and encourage climate-friendly energy technologies and leave new undeveloped sources of coal, oil and gas in the ground, we’re in grave danger of reaching the “tipping point” at which runaway climate change becomes inevitable.

Shale gas extraction will get resisted by people everywhere with good cause. Governments without fracking bans should take heed.

Josephine Downs, Swinton

Pay camp a visit

I HAVE visited the protection camp at Kirby Misperton and was greeted with smiles, warmth and friendship and offers of tea and food. The camp was tidy and organised complete with recycle bins.

How grateful Ryedale residents should be to these folk who are taking a stand against the fracking industry to protect our stunningly beautiful countryside and rural way of life. Ryedale, and eventually North Yorkshire, will be covered in fracking wells and the pollution this industry brings with it.

I urge residents and MP Kevin Hollinrake pay them a visit. Ryedale has a bright future. Let us keep it that way.

June Smith, Helmsley