Sold out Horsham debate on fracking tonight as PM Cameron pledges support

Organised by Horsham Skeptics in the Pub (HSiP) at the Tanners Arms pub in Brighton Road at 8pm, the meeting hopes to better inform people after drilling in nearby Balcombe has garnered national media attention.

Celtique Energie have planning permission for an exploratory well near Adversane, while they are hoping to gain permission for another between Wisborough Green and Kirdford.

While it is looking for conventional energy deposits in Adversane, the company says if it does find significant shale deposits on the second well, it could be the first step towards fracking in West Sussex.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph the Prime Minister said he could not see anything wrong with hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure to split apart shale rock to release gas or oil, if it was properly regulated.

Speakers tonight will include Jane Thomas, a senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth in England, and Benny Peiser, director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation and editor of CCNet.

The event has already sold out. For a full report see this week’s County Times.