Government unveils measures to fast-track fracking

The British government will give its communities minister the power to directly approve shale gas permits, removing decision-making from local politicians who have in the past months blocked the progress of Britain’s first such wells.

County Hall bosses today hit out at the Government after it sparked a furious backlash amid controversial plans to fast-track fracking.

In Scotland, the SNP Government slapped a moratorium on all fracking in January, pending further research and consultation.

Ken Cronin, chief executive of UKOOG, the onshore oil and gas body, said: “Experience has shown that the planning process is unwieldy and the time taken for planning decisions has soared from three months to over a year, causing delay and cost and this is not in the interests of local people, the industry, or indeed the British people”.

Energy secretary Amber Rudd and communities secretary Greg Clark said the government would deal with protracted applications by “actively considering calling in on a case-by-case basis shale planning applications and considering recovering appeals”.

It also highlighted that over a third of the UK’s energy needs, including heating 80% of homes, relies upon gas and claims that more than 80,000 jobs are tied to energy intensive industry and supply chains.

“People’s safety and the environment will remain paramount and communities will always be involved in planning applications but no one benefits from uncertainty caused by delays in planning decisions”.

But Daisy Sands, Greenpeace’s head of energy campaign, said the new measures meant residents south of the border “could end up with virtually no say over whether their homes, communities and national parks are fracked or not”.

The UK government has signalled its intention to break opposition to shale gas exploration by introducing tough new rules fast tracking planning applications.

The Lancaster Guardian approached Mr Morris regarding the comments and he said: “Fracking is imperative for our future energy security, councils need to make timely decisions based on fact and planning law and not be side tracked by scaremongering stories from pressure groups”.

She said: “This stinks”.

‘These changes are being made because the Government doesn’t agree with the democratic decisions councils have been making, ‘ she added.

Drilling firm iGas plans to submit several new applications over the next year, and supporters say they could start delivering a domestic source of gas by 2020.

The move comes just days after energy secretary Amber Rudd hinted that her department wanted to see shale gas applications speeded up.

The Government said local communities would still remain “fully involved” in planning decisions but added that shale applications shouldn’t be “frustrated by slow and confused decision making amongst councils”. “The choice is how much we rely on gas from overseas or whether we extract more in the UK”.

Proposals will be presented later this year on the design of a new sovereign wealth fund to enable communities hosting shale gas developments to share in the financial returns they generate.

In addition, the Planning Inspectorate will prioritise planning call-ins and appeals involving shale applications.

“There is no good reason why an application for a shale gas exploration site should take three to four times longer to determine than an application for a major housing development, a supermarket or a large-scale quarry”.