UK Govt Overturns Council Fracking Ban

UK Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government Sajid Javid has approved Cuadrilla's application to drill and hydraulically fracture (frack) four wells at Preston New Road in the Fylde area of North Lancashire but not at this stage four more wells at a second site, Roseacre Wood.

The second site did not meet the necessary transport regulations so Cuadrilla has been given time to provide "any further evidence on highway safety... and make representations on that" before government reaches final decision on this appeal. 

The government's October 6 landmark decision followed appeals by Cuadrilla against a decision whereby local Lancashire County Council (LCC) rejected the original applications. The two appeals were to drill and hydraulically fracture four wells at each site; and the other two were for installing monitoring works so that any leaks and tremors could be detected. LCC's negative decision went against advice from its own planning officials and was seen as way out of taking a decision that would be unpopular among environmentalists. LCC's chief medical officer though advised against fracking.

Cuadrilla well site (Credit: Cuadrilla)

Welcoming the decision, the CEO of UK Onshore Operators Group Ken Cronin said: "The approval of the application at Preston New Road is an important step forward towards determining what gas resources we have under our feet, with the aim of developing a sustainable onshore natural gas exploration industry in the UK. We need the gas to heat our homes, produce electricity, supply our industries and to reduce our dependency on imports. The onshore oil and gas industry is committed to producing this gas in the safest and most environmentally sensitive way possible and to creating jobs and opportunities in the supply chain." 

The government is entitled to direct appeals such as these, under new powers to override local decisions, when they are of "major importance having more than local significance" and raise "important or novel issues of development control and/or legal difficulties."

LCC criticised the government's decision to overrule it. Its cabinet member for environment and planning, Councillor Marcus Johnstone, said of its June 2015 hearings: "This was one of the biggest planning applications ever put before any council - literally tens of thousands of people responded to the consultation processes, and the applications involved substantial levels of technical detail. Our development control committee carefully considered many hours of evidence both for and against the proposal, and the committee members ultimately cast their vote based on the evidence they heard and whether they thought the proposal was acceptable in planning terms."

Another company planning to frack its gas reserves is Third Energy. It is awaiting a judicial review brought against North Yorkshire county council which in May approved its plans to frack wells at Kirby Misperton. That response is due late in November.

William Powell