Despite a petition of nearly 5,500 signatures and despite more than 850 objections, West Sussex County Council chose to ignore the material objection that Cuadrilla has no social licence to be in Balcombe.

Well-informed and well-researched speeches were delivered by residents, which only served to highlight the lack of thought the voting councillors (with the exception of Sue Mullins) had put into a meeting last Tuesday (April 29).

It is a sad day for democracy when the committee, like every other body involved in this process, dismisses some of the most serious concerns as “not in their remit”. Then whose responsibility are these concerns?

It shows a ridiculous lack of foresight when an exploration company is allowed to have its process considered piecemeal in separate planning applications, without considering the obvious end-game of oil-production close to residents. Thus, each new application is in part validated by the fact that the previous one was approved.

Cuadrilla’s own researchers admit fluid can migrate up to 5,000ft along fault plains and intend to put fluid down an uncased lateral borehole in a highly faulted area, within 1,600ft of the aquifer – apparently nobody’s concern.

Then of course there are the regulatory bodies that are supposed to protect us but which instead appear to assume that Cuadrilla has effectively already self-regulated.

The authorities have then based their own permits on the idea that the well is, in fact, sound. This cannot be guaranteed, and as we have seen in Singleton, well failure does happen. Again, nobody’s concern.

And climate change? Clearly nobody’s concern, and certainly not the Government’s, which admits climate change is occurring in one breath while redirecting subsidies away from renewables and into onshore oil and gas with the other.

At what cost do we want our energy? We can only hope now that an educated public will use their votes wisely.

Helen Savage, Balcombe

Democracy is dead. RIP. If you don’t believe me ask anyone who was present at the farcical planning meeting last Tuesday held by West Sussex County Council in Horsham.

According to documents provided by the council itself, permission had already been granted before the meeting began. This a complete travesty, and a disgraceful abuse of a democracy hard-fought-for by countless generations over many centuries.

One has to ask, should these council officials be allowed to make decisions that could have potentially disastrous consequences for all of us?

One reader (Brian Beck, Letters, April 24) recently wrote a letter to this journal stating that Germany is using coal-fired power stations to generate energy. He also says that France is using nuclear plants for its energy supplies.

What Mr Beck does not say is that both of these industries create enormous amounts of toxic waste which has to be dealt with.

So, do you suggest this can be achieved without destroying the planet and, therefore, ourselves?

In finishing, I myself actually took the opportunity to visit the Fylde peninsular (on which sits Blackpool) and saw the damage caused by fracking first-hand.

Insurance companies are refusing to pay out for repairs to this desecration.

To those in support of fracking, I would say be very careful what you wish for.

Kenny Lloyd, Norway Street, Portslade