Out-Law News 2 min. read

Rejection of Preston New Road proposal a 'set-back for shale gas exploration in England', says expert


Cuadrilla's plans for shale gas exploration at a site between Preston and Blackpool have been rejected by local councillors. The move will be "viewed as a considerable set-back for shale gas exploration in England", an expert has said.

The energy company had applied for permission to conduct drilling, hydraulic fracturing and gas flow testing on a site at Preston New Road, Little Plumpton. However, Lancashire County Council's (LCC) Development Control Committee has rejected the application, ignoring the recommendations of the planning officer. A separate application submitted by Cuadrilla to undertake shale gas exploration activities at Roseacre Wood in Lancashire was also rejected by LCC last week.

Planning and infrastructure expert Robbie Owen of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "Today's decision sends a further unhelpful signal to international investors at a time when the UK's energy policy is in a state of flux. The events of recent weeks demonstrate a difficult relationship between localism on the one hand and the need to keep the lights on on the other. The next likely move will be an appeal to the planning secretary, but the question for potential investors is whether the UK is simply becoming too difficult and unpredictable a place."

LCC said the decision to reject Cuadrilla's Preston New Road planning application was taken "on the grounds of noise and visual impact."

LCC councillor Marcus Johnstone said: "This is one of the biggest planning decisions ever put before Lancashire County Council. The development control committee has listened very carefully to many hours of evidence both for and against the proposal, and considered the report of the council's planning officers. The decision to refuse this application has been reached by a vote of the committee, which is composed of elected councillors, and each member of the committee has ultimately cast their vote based on the evidence they have heard and whether they think the proposal is acceptable in planning terms, and to the people they represent."

Cuadrilla said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the decision. However, it said it is still "committed to the responsible exploration of the huge quantity of natural gas locked up in the shale rock deep underneath Lancashire" and would "take time" to consider whether to appeal.

"We completed the most comprehensive environmental impact assessments ever carried out for operations of this kind," Cuadrilla said. "These assessments are the product of thousands of hours of work from independent expert environmental scientists and other engineering specialists and they demonstrate beyond question that the operations can and will be conducted safely and without damage to people’s health or their environment. The UK and the EU has a strict regulatory framework for governing oil and gas exploration and production and we have had to secure many permissions and permits before work can start."

"If we can unlock this shale gas potential it will help create jobs, generate economic growth, help fuel and heat local businesses and homes and boost local tax revenues for Lancashire. It is regrettable that the County Council has decided not to support this application in the face of positive recommendation from all regulators and their own officers," it said.

Cuadrilla's planning application had been opposed by anti-fracking campaigners. In a statement, Friends of the Earth welcomed LCC's decision.

"Both Cuadrilla and the government must respect Lancashire’s decision and not try to force unpopular fracking on these communities," it said. "Many polls show that the public wants renewable energy, not fracking – and the clean energy and long term jobs it provides."

Fracking involves pumping water at high pressure into rock to create narrow fractures through which trapped natural gas can flow out and be captured. Natural gas extracted from shale rock formations at significant depths below ground has become an increasingly important source of fuel in the US over the past decade.

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