Letters to the Editor Theatre Trips
Sir, Langport & District Red Cross Group Theatre Trips to Bristol Hippodrome would like to announce our latest reservation is for English National Ballet’s production of Coppélia on 6th November. Bookings that are due to close in February are for Welsh National opera’s Manon Lescaut (11 April) and La Traviata (12 April), the record breaking musical Blood Brothers (17 April), and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (21 May). Book on line at www.theatre trips.webeden.co.uk or e-mail coxtheatretrips@btinternet.com or phone 01458 273085. Christopher J. Cox 2 Camden Road Somerton TA11 6RN
Official Response from Frack Free Somerset, January 13th 2014, in response to David Cameron’s comments on Fracking
Sir, Frack Free Somerset stands opposed to the government’s plans to offer a huge tax break for any councils willing to approve fracking projects in their area, as announced by David Cameron 13/1/14. The Prime Minister said local authorities would receive 100 per cent of the business rates collected from drilling schemes – double their usual 50 per cent. We believe that at a time of austerity this is a very cynical move by the government, when councils up and down the country are facing all kinds of budgetary cuts. However, it appears tantamount to bribery and indicates just how desperate ministers are to push through this deeply controversial technology. They have seen the protests against fracking, and are willfully ignoring people’s concerns about the harm it has already caused to human health, livestock and the environment in the uS and Australia, due to the disruption of radioactive radium within the shale, hazardous toxins polluting the water table and respiratory problems caused by air pollution, amongst other issues. This announcement also highlights the degree of corruption at Westminster. When various ministers and special advisers are known to have vested interests in the fracking
industry, it seems clear that they want to ensure a good return on their investments, and as David Cameron has said, they’re ‘going all out for shale’, regardless of the costs to the British people and the environment. However, Frack Free Somerset believes that once councillors are fully informed about the risks inherent in unconventional gas and oil extraction, they are not going to be so easily bought. Mendip District Council has already passed a unanimous motion to raise their concerns about fracking to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and is setting up a working party to look further into the risks, and Frack Free Somerset calls on other councils to do the same. Finally, we urge Westminster to follow the example of France and Germany, where fracking has already been banned, and would like to remind the government that communities around the uK are already experiencing the effects of climate change through extreme weather and flooding and that extracting more hydrocarbons from the ground will wreck our chances of meeting our 2020 carbon emissions targets. Frack Free Somerset www.frackfreesomerset.org/ E: info@frackfreesomerset.org Twitter: @FrackFreeSom
Somerset Farmers set to discuss implications of Fracking on their land
Sir, on 26th February, landowners and farmers from across Somerset will gather from 7pm at Wells Town Hall to discuss and explore the implications of permitting unconventional gas exploration on their land. At a time when many local farmers are struggling with flooding and the Environment Agency is facing budgetary cuts, what additional environmental impacts might they expect from this highly controversial technology, against which many European food producers have already been protesting? With 650 square km of Somerset currently licensed for unconventional gas exploration, and an estimated 2,100 wells required across our county for the industry to achieve its stated production values, many local farmers and landowners can
expect an approach from fracking companies at some point in the future. But apart from the potentially large financial package on offer, what could people expect to happen were they to accept? Any company seeking a landowner’s permission to drill would also be subject to local planning, as the infrastructure of a ‘fracking pad’ is seen as development. However, with Mendip District Council unanimous vote last September to communicate its concerns about fracking to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the government’s strong support of the industry, and a wide range of media reports, public information on the subject can seem difficult to gauge. It was for this reason that members of Frack Free Somerset, who are organising the meeting, identified a need to create a forum where the experiences of landowners and food producers from other countries could be heard. People attending the information evening on February 26th will have the opportunity to listen to speakers and to watch a selection of short films, including one specially commissioned on the subject, featuring interviews with local geologists. There will also be opportunities to ask questions, network and raise concerns. The meeting is free to attend, but advance booking is welcome. For more information, please email: info@frackfree somerset.org Frack Free Somerset www.frackfreesomerset.org/ E: info@frackfreesomerset.org Twitter: @FrackFreeSom
News from Cary Brook
Sir, Here at Cary Brook, the New year has brought us both new staff and residents and hopefully a volunteer, after she read our recent appeal in the Viz. We still have room for more - so why not make it a belated New years resolution to ‘Be a Friend’. As we look after residents who experience problems with mental frailty and illnesses associated with dementia, we would have to ask you to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service form (DBS). one of Cary Brooks Christmas presents to ourselves was an eye pad, many of the residents and the ‘mature’ staff members are now learning about this new technology. Three residents have also joined ‘Ages 2.0’. This is an exciting research project to find the benefits of teaching people who receive care on how to use a computer for social networking to contact family and friends. The results will be analysed by research assistants and Professors of The university of Exeter, to see if having increased contact with others through the internet can improve quality of life for people receiving care. Residents saw an appeal on the TV to ‘Adopt a Tiger’. They were so interested and asked if we could do it. Why not we thought - so Activities organiser Barbie has started to put things into action and hopefully soon we will have our very own ‘Tiger’. our oldest resident Emily Bentley celebrated her 106th Birthday with friends, residents and staff – all entertained by Adelaide Brown on the flute. Christine Stone Cary Brook Residential Home Castle Cary
The Visitor can now be read online: www.thevisitormagazine.co.uk THE VISIToR February 2014 5