THIS is an open letter to everyone, and we hope it is read and noted by our district and county councillors and MP.

It concerns the potential of licences to be sold for petroleum exploration and development within the Forest of Dean, south Herefordshire and Stroud districts – after announcing these potential areas may be licensed, we are still waiting for the government’s announcement following consultation.

In his replies to concerned constituents, Mark Harper is seeking to reassure that certain areas will be protected.

This protection does not allay our concerns at all, and here’s why:

The legal definition of fracking in Section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 is “associated hydraulic fracturing” means hydraulic fracturing of shale or strata encased in shale which... involves, or is expected to involve, the injection of more than 1,000 cubic metres of fluid at each stage, or expected stage, of the hydraulic fracturing, or more than 10,000 cubic metres of fluid in total.

Fracking, as a word in common usage, includes all unconventional hydrocarbons (gas and oil extracted in non-conventional ways), but the government is only considering the above precise definition in its protection proposals.

While we would hardly feel reassured that a mixture of water, sand and chemicals were being injected at high velocity more than 1,200 metres under a ’protected zone’ (just 200m further down than allowed anywhere else) to retrieve shale gas – the protective measures do not prevent drilling anywhere for coalbed methane, and much closer to the surface, the same level where we and all of nature get our drinking water from.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough to our local politicians – those trying on our behalf to prevent the devastation of our Forest from a new and wholly unnecessary industrial revolution – not to believe any of the hype that the areas we cherish are protected. They are not.

The protection in areas (AONBs, Groundwater Protection Zones and Sites of Special Scientific Interest – covering only a fraction of the Dean) only applies to hydraulic fracturing for shale gas, and not the more likely devastating industries of coal bed methane (CBM) or underground coal gasification (UCG).

Mr Harper has previously asserted that the British Geological Survey (BGS) informed him there is no shale gas under the Dean.

We did our own research and consulted with the BGS and they said it was unlikely but still possible there is shale gas about 3km below the surface.

Given the lack of evidence, it would be a very risky play for investors and the industry.

What is a certainty is that there is a coalfield just under our feet, and plenty of data which shows it extends several hundred feet below us (500 metres in places) from close to the surface.

While the Forest mines may not have been gassy, there may be gas trapped within the blocks of coal nevertheless.

This leaves the oil and gas industry with two options of getting the gas. The first option, CBM, involves pumping water out of the flooded workings (rather than pumping fluid in, as with shale gas fracking) and then forcing out gas from between the tightly-packed cleats of the coal.

The second option, UCG – and there have been rumours that this is what prospectors in the Dean are interested in trying – involves pumping oxygen into previously worked coal seams (presumably after draining them of water) and setting the seam alight.

The toxic gas resulting from the burning seam underground is then collected at a power station nearby and converted into useable gas.

CBM production would be permitted if a company is granted petroleum exploration and development licences (and received planning permission and other permits) and according to national planning guidance. It can take place below 200 metres.

UCG requires a separate licence from the Coal Authority – no minimum depth is stated.

What is known is that UCG is far worse a polluter than conventional coal mining, or coal burning.

Carbon is just one of the elements of the smoke which belches from a set-alight coal seam.

And it has plenty of potential for this toxic compound to escape from the burning seam into groundwater supplies.

I hope everyone who receives a reassuring letter back from Mr Harper or another member of the government realises there is no protection of the sort.

We continue to urge Gloucestershire County Council to do similar to Forest of Dean District Council and write to the government, urging them not to sell licences in the Dean. The county council next meets on January 15 to consider a motion to do this.

If licences are granted, it opens the door to frackers – a door that is very hard to close, even if fracking doesn’t take place for another decade.

Licences give companies up to an initial five years to use every means at their disposal to explore for gas and oil, whether shale or coalbed.

We have seen in Lancashire how the government is riding roughshod over local democracy by throwing out the carefully considered county council rejection of fracking applications.

If it can happen there, it can happen here.

This is why we must ensure this door remains closed, and councillors working on our behalf are aware that the legal definition of fracking and claimed protections would not stop our Forest being ruined by gas from our coal measures.

Here in the Forest we have had many people – of all ages – telling us they would be prepared to stand in the road and physically prevent a gas company exploring here.

Obviously we hope it doesn’t come to that, but anyone who might be considering exploring here should be aware they will have a serious fight on their hands.

Finally, we wish season’s greetings to our thousands of supporters and welcome the fact we seem to have consensus across the political spectrum locally and the shared determination to stop this threat.

Together we will be ensuring that in 2016, and every year thereafter, we have a frack-free Forest (free from shale gas, coalbed methane, underground coal gasification and/or nuclear waste storage).

– Owen Adams, Frack Off Our Forest.