Government set to back fracking

FRACKING, the controversial process for extracting shale gas from the earth, could start in the region soon after the government said it would intervene to fast-track applications to drill in Lancashire.

According to The Times, communities secretary Greg Clark has written to shale gas developer Cuadrilla to tell them that he has decided to have the final say on its appeals against Lancashire County Council’s rejection of its
applications.

The government has pledged to back shale gas, arguing it could transform the economy as has been seen in the US, and in August announced changes in planning rules under which such appeals “will be treated as a priority for urgent resolution”.

Under the new rules, Mr Clark can intervene in appeals by “recovering” them and deciding the outcome himself. Under the normal process, an independent planning inspector would make the decision after hearing all the evidence.

In the letter, Mr Clark said he had issued the direction “because the drilling appeals involve proposals for exploring and developing shale gas”. He said that this amounted to proposals “for development of major importance” which had “more than local significance”.

In June Lancashire county council’s development control committee rejected applications made more than a year earlier to drill and hydraulically fracture wells near Blackpool.

The committee said that the site at Preston New Road would have an “unacceptable noise impact” and “adverse urbanising effect on the landscape”. Planning officials had recommended approval of the application and the council’s QC had advised that it would be “unreasonable” to refuse it on environmental grounds.

The committee also rejected an application by Cuadrilla to drill at Roseacre Wood.

The rejections prompted shale gas companies to lobby ministers to overrule councils, which they believed were being overly influenced by anti-fracking campaigners.

Greenpeace, which opposes fracking, criticised the change in rules as “a clear affront to local democracy”.

Cuadrilla’s appeals will be scrutinised in a public inquiry starting on February 9, after which a planning inspector will write a report for ministers containing a recommendation. Mr Clark is not bound to accept the recommendation.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said in a statement: “Ministers have decided to recover Cuadrilla’s appeals for shale exploration in Lancashire. They consider these proposals are of more than local significance and raise important issues of planning development control.”

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