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So what is SOS?
Our title 'SOS' is short for Save our Sea - the sea
being Cardigan Bay.
We are a campaign group of individuals from various political,
social, and national backgrounds, but united in our opposition
to the government department of Trade and Industry's plan
to grant licences to oil companies to drill for oil in what
are known as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Cardigan
Bay.
At present we are all residents of either Ceredigion or Pembrokeshire,
but as we work to increase public awareness of this issue
we hope to draw in members from other areas of Wales, particularly
those bordering on the coast of Cardigan Bay.
The reason for this is that due to the currents and the shallow
depth of water of Cardigan Bay nowhere deeper than 70 feet)
any oil spill or chemical contamination from the New Quay
or Strumble Head sites will be washed onto beaches as far
north as Shell Island and possibly beyond.
What's the story behind the formation of SOS?
• In 2000 the European Union decided that certain
areas of Cardigan Bay and the Moray Firth should be designated
as Special Areas of Conservation to protect the important
marine wildlife in those areas. You would imagine that the
aim of this was to protect the wildlife there from any future
threat from outside agencies.
• In 2006 the government announced in a written
statement (why so secretively?) to the House of Commons, that
the Department of Trade and Industry was selling licences
to oil companies to allow off-shore drilling. The sites offered
to the oil companies included the SACs in Cardigan Bay, one
off New Quay and two off Strumble Head.
• The Department of Trade and Industry then arranged
for a 'independent' company to carry out what is known as
a 'Strategic Environmental Assessment' to determine whether
oil drilling would pose any threat to the Dolphins, Porpoises,
Seals and other important wildlife in the Cardigan Bay SACs.
• The conclusion of the firm doing the assessment
was that there was NO RISK
to the wildlife despite the fact
the EEC environmental assessment 6 years previously that these
areas and their wildlife should be protected.
• Interesting
that the Department of Trade and Industry PAY this company
for their 'independent' assessment.
• Interesting That
the same firm has been doing assessment work for the DTI for
the last 20 years.
• Interesting that
the government make money from the oil companies both by selling
the licences to drill, and by taxing the product.
• So is there any
way we can believe that this is an truly an unbiased
assessment of whether there is a threat to the dolphins and
other
wild life?
• Eventually small snippets of information began
to come out in the local press. However by now the DTI's 'public
consultation stage' (the opportunity for local resident to
object to the oil drilling plans) was almost at an end. Yet
because of what would appear to be the DTI's apparent secrecy
and haste on this issue - very few of the local residents
had heard anything about it at all.
• A small group of the people who had become
aware of what was being done got together and decided to try
to raise public awareness, and to make a stand against oil
drilling in the Bay, calling the campaign Save Our Sea.
• They made slow progress initially, the large areas
of countryside and sparse population made it difficult to
spread the information about the threat to wildlife and to
the increasingly important tourist industry.
• However, with awareness days in local coastal
towns, an ongoing petition, and recently their first protest
march - the media coverage has increased, the backing we are
receiving from the general public is now tremendous, and the
number of regular supporters in the group continues to increase.
• We have cross party support of local political
figures - Mark Williams (Lib Dem MP for Ceredigion), Elin
Jones (Plaid Cymru A.M), and Green Party Candidate Leila Kiersch
We also have backing from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation
Society and Friends of the Earth.
• We have achieved a small victory - the issuing
of the licences to drill in Cardigan Bay has been delayed
for the time being.
However we are sure that this is only a temporary reprieve.
In view of the DTI's previous covert behaviour we must
continue to make the voice of the residents of Wales heard
and continue our campaign of opposition.
• We have come across very few people who would
welcome the DTI's plans for Cardigan Bay. Their
argument being that oil would bring money and jobs to the
area. This is absolutely NOT the case - what it WILL do is
to destroy the growing ecotourist industry here,
by driving away or destroying the wildlife that we all love
to see - including the tourists.
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