Poole Bay oil rig plan 'isn't worth the risk' claim protesters

A crowd of some 40 people opposed to the drilling gathered on Bournemouth beach on Saturday to raise awareness of the proposal and hear speeches on the alleged danger it poses to the marine ecosystem and the local tourism economy.

Oil firm Corallian Energy is awaiting a decision from the Energy Secretary on whether it can place a jack-up rig in the bay some 8km from Studland for a period of some 40 days, starting later this year.

Among those who spoke at the protest were Bournemouth Labour parliamentary spokesman David Stokes and Liberal Democrat Phil Dunn, Climate Reality activist Mark Chivers, Green Party councillor Simon Bull and recently selected Labour candidate for Bournemouth East Corrie Drew.

"One of the first political inclinations I had was my concern over the environment," Ms Drew told the Echo.

"I think it is easier for children to understand the importance. They are not worried about the economy, their career, their pride, they are looking at things as they are. I have held onto that feeling.

"We were told as children that the grown-ups would take care of everything but here we are 30 years later and nothing has improved, we are not acting on climate change."

Ms Drew said she believed a focus on fossil fuel was slowing progress on renewable alternatives, which, she said, could provide jobs and boost the local economy in Bournemouth.

"This plan is obviously a risk to the environment. In the majority of cases it doesn't result in a spill, but it is not worth taking the risk.

"Clean-ups are costly and time consuming, it would put people's health at risk, tourism would take a long time to recover, and there is no benefit to us as all the money will go to city investors."

Corallian plans to drill an appraisal well to assess the volume of oil in the Colter Prospect patch of seabed.

If oil of sufficient quantity is discovered it would be extracted via horizontal drilling from Wytch Farm in Poole Harbour.