Policing operations at fracking sites in Nottinghamshire cost £900,000

A Freedom of Information has revealed that so far £900,000 has been spent on policing operations at two IGas fracking sites in Nottinghamshire.
Police at a fracking sitePolice at a fracking site
Police at a fracking site

The request was made to Nottinghamshire Police by Frack Free Misson who have been informed by Paddy Tipping, the Police and Crime Commissioner, that as of April 2019, the total cost of policing operations at the two IGas fracking sites the sites at Tinker Lane near Blythe and Springs Road near Misson stood at £900,000.

The sites have been working alternately since January 2018.

A spokesman from Frack Free Misson said: "On one more than one occasion there has been more than 30 police personnel present, along with vehicles and support units, despite there being small numbers of the protection community present at the time.

Police at a fracking sitePolice at a fracking site
Police at a fracking site

"The financial outlay of £900,000 is considerable by any margin but especially when pressure on police services is so acute.

"Apart from the financial impact, the imposition of the fracking industry upon our community has led to the diversion of police resources away from their duties of serving and protecting the communities who pay for them.

"Council tax payers and local businesses have had to contend with increasing levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, while dozens of police are deployed at the behest of a private corporation to facilitate the unjustifiable extraction of fossil fuels."

Bassetlaw District Councillor, Mark Watson, said: "It seems very unfair that residents should bear the costs of a high-profile police operation to protect the interests of a commercial organisation when the residents do not support the development in question and the company involved does not make any financial contribution to the police costs."

Frack Free Misson said: "The most recent government survey found public support for fracking at an all-time low of 12 per cent while opposition has risen to 40 per cent among the general population.

"IGas have told the community of Misson to expect an application to frack their ‘exploratory’ well before the end of the year, and have also stated their intention to simultaneously develop numerous multiple well sites within their licensed areas.

"Police services are needed and overwhelming evidence shows fracked gas is not.

"Over recent years whilst supporting the fracking industry through tax allowances and legislative manipulation, the government has also been cutting back on domestic insulation schemes and renewable energy investment, thereby propagating gas demand and dependency on imports.

"This nullifies any claims by the industry that fracking is of national importance, and this is confirmed in the government’s own Gas Security of Supply report of 2017."