The Guardian: To frack or not to frack? Councils must make the final decision

The process of drilling or injecting fluid into the ground to extract shale gas or oil, known as fracking, has divided not only governments but communities.

These concerns are shared across Europe, where only last week courts in France upheld a complete ban In the UK, environmental groups have campaigned to get landowners, who feel ill at ease about the potential havoc fracking can cause, to oppose it.

But the British government has brushed aside concerns, instead offering lucrative tax breaks to energy companies as they eye the serious economic and political returns that shale gas has to offer. The promises of being the "greenest government ever" seem something of a distant memory with shale gas offering a quick-fire way to drive down costs, get voters onside and find a viable alternative to asking citizens to pull on another jumper.

While political parties continue to make up their minds on shale gas exploration, local government must contend with doing their utmost to resolve local antagonism, and protect communities and their environment.  MORE