After 7 years of campaigning, Don’t Drill the Wight is disbanding as it says its job’s done … for now!
Don’t Drill The Wight (DDTW) — formerly known as Frack Free Isle of Wight — is closing its website and core committee members are planning to resign at its upcoming annual general meeting next week.
Sylvia May, spokesperson for the group, says they believe they have finally achieved all of the key goals they set out 7 years ago, relating to removing the threat of drilling for fossil fuels on the Island.
In the last year, DDTW has helped lead the successful campaign against potential oil drilling boreholes in Arreton.
The Isle of Wight Council’s planning committee unanimously threw out UK Oil and Gas’s (UKOG) application for the site in October last year, with no subsequent appeal submitted to overturn the decision.
Earlier this year, the oil and gas company relinquished its licence to drill on the Island and in doing so will not be able to act on its plans for 2 drill sites, the 1st in Arreton and the other in Godshill.
Despite the milestones being achieved, DDTW kept going for one more year for other reasons. 1 of the reasons was awaiting the latest round of offshore drilling licences to ensure the licensed area off of Compton Bay — which UKOG also held but dropped in 2018 — was not included, which it wasn’t.
The other, Sylvia said, was to see the outcome of the Fracking Moratorium, which saw MP Jacob Rees-Mogg lift the measures and relax planning permission for further new onshore exploration.
Following the swift u-turn by the Conservative Party following the election of Rishi Sunak as PM, that issue has been resolved for DDTW.
Sylvia said:
“We are now breathing a sigh of relief and feel our seven-year campaign is done.
“If we need to return we hope a younger core committee will take up the reins but for now, job done!
“We have expressed our thanks on many occasions to everyone; supportive residents: councillors: our subscribers and members: campaigners and the press on the Island and across the UK, who had the patience to fight with and support us in so many ways for seven long years.”
Core committee members are still supporting groups battling with other environmental challenges, climate change and fossil fuel expansion.
Thanks for all your work.
It would be so nice if we, as a whole Island could show our appreciation in some way to thank the dedication of these people that fought so hard on our behalf to not allow drilling and fracking. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH ALL WHO WERE INVOLVED.
perhaps you would like to also show your gratitude to the countries who environments are being wrecked by industrial scale mining to obtain the minerals, that make your phone, your pc, your electric car battery and the batteries being created to attempt to store electricity from wind. To upscale the take up of electric cars, the mining of lithium, has to increase on a significant scale at what cost to the environment
of course, this doesn’t matter to those on the island as it doesn’t affect them.
There was an oil rig on Whitehouse Lane in 2006. There were no complaints then.
Still it’s trendy to be an ecofaccist now.
And these far left fascist are the first to complain about high fuel costs, their houses are litup like a Christmas tree, they drive car’s and even 4×4s..
They have every modern high tech gadget, then criticism that they spout about the rest of us makes me sick..
Bloody hippocrits…
We are now breathing a sigh of relief and feel our seven-year campaign is done.
the sigh of relief will abruptly come to an end when sylvia gets her next electricity bill.
It will have course of gone unnoticed by Sylvia that petroleum products account for about 86% of non combustion consumption.
E.G …Fossil fuels can be consumed, but not combusted, when they are used directly as construction materials, chemical feedstocks, lubricants, solvents, waxes, and other products. Common examples include petroleum products used in plastics, natural gas used in fertilizers, and coal tars used in skin treatment products, Asphalt and road oils are used for roofing and paving construction.
We need fracking and drilling for oil to help make us energy independent and bring an end to the fuel crisis.
They can all go back to their days jobs now, blocking bridges in London.
Im sure this handfull of self congratulating hypocrites all have passports so they can fly all over the world, have more than one car, possibly even a filthy electric, and have a nice cosy life style. Meanwhile, in the real world, oil and coal consumption is now at a new record high, you losers have achived nothing..
So very soon this group will complain about the price of oil. They want the oil but don’t want to dig for it by any means. Other groups want cheap electricity but don’t want to see wind turbines. Yet all of these groups have travelled around the country in cars and coaches, they also wear yellow or orange jackets that are made via the use of oil.
Maybe now they will contribute to getting a tunnel built !!
Although not to do with this post, but I always wondered about all those that go to and join in with demonstrations, like the stop oil… how do those people get there ?? I believe they actually drive, or have a car… so why don’t the police compound their vehicles… if those are trying to stop oil… why do they drive ??
not to mention the fact that most of the fruit they are eating in their vegan lifestyles is shipped here by sea on large container ships using phenomenal amounts of fossil fuels
Heres a great fact for you, 20 large cargo ships produce more pollution than every single motor vehicle in the world every year, there are three thousand five hundred cargo ships.
Did you get your figures from Diane Abbott by any chance?
https://cedelft.eu/publications/the-basic-facts-how-do-the-emissions-of-ships-and-cars-really-compare/