SOME of the Island's young voices have had their say on proposed oil drilling on the Isle of Wight — urging residents to support the Frack-Free Isle of Wight cause.
Among those to voice concerns is Nathan Stubbings, 17, who together with his friends launched an Instagram campaign in an attempt to raise awareness for the issue.
The group have since demonstrated at Binstead Beach, carrying placards such as "don't frack with my future" and "don't drill the Wight".
Nathan posted a series of photos on his social media account, explaining the situation, and within a couple of hours he had dozens of people sharing and creating their own posts.
"We’ve started to post under a new Instagram hashtag in #dontdrillthewight," said Nathan.
"We’ve adopted the mantra, 'a local issue setting a national precedent', to encourage people who don’t live on the Island to support us in objecting to oil drilling here.
"If we can show the country that we’re prepared to make a stand, then other areas will be able to resist similar attempts to sabotage our government’s carbon neutral goal.
"There are some great people out there doing some great work, but we hadn’t seen much support on social media.
"We took it upon ourselves to fix that, and are fully committed to making young people aware of the problem.
"Some of my friends have written incredibly complex and detailed objection letters.
"This is our ultimate goal — to provide the council with substantial evidence that the Island’s youth stand with our fellow residents in opposing oil drilling here."
Another young voice determined to be heard is Godshill's Francesca Bacon, 16, who wrote a letter to the County Press.
"Oil can have devastating effects on the environment, and the Island is known for its natural beauty," said Francesca.
"This proposal could not only ruin our wonderful wildlife, but also harm local businesses who make profits from tourism.
"After all, who wants to visit a place where there is a constant, annoying hum of drills, and where water sources could potentially end up contaminated?
"As for wildlife, oil spills ruin habitats and kill organisms by destroying food sources and poisoning them.
"Do you really want to hang all that in the balance, just so you can fill your greedy pockets with even more money?
"This is our Island — this is the place where we grew up.
"And above all, this is our home. Please don’t ruin it."
On the weekend, a campaign was launched to oppose oil drilling on the Isle of Wight.
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