Sunday Times: Crunch point for Blackpool shale plan

LANCASHIRE councillors are set to deliver a much-delayed verdict tomorrow on whether to allow fracking outside a village near Blackpool.

Last week the county council discussed two applications from Cuadrilla Resources to drill the first shale gas wells in Britain since 2011. The council rejected one and postponed the ballot on the second until tomorrow, after an all-day hearing ended in stalemate.

Sources close to Cuadrilla were hopeful this weekend that it will get the green light for its site at Preston New Road. A QC advising the council said last week that rejection would create “a high risk that a costs penalty will be imposed upon the council”. The county planning officer also warned that there were no grounds for a rejection.

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