MPs call for fracking ban as Cuadrilla blocked
22 Jan 2015
MPs from all major political parties have submitted proposals against hydraulic fracturing as part of the Infrastructure Bill being debated in Parliament today.
The ammendments put forward by politicians including Conservative Zac Goldsmith and Liberal Democrat Norman Baker range from a ban on shale gas development in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to a wholesale moratorium on shale gas development in the UK.
We note that the Planning Officer’s report has accepted…that properly regulated hydraulic fracturing is ‘very low risk’
Cuadrilla spokesman
Today’s debating of the Infrastructure Bill on the House of Commons follows the news yesterday that Lancashire County Council planning inspectors have recommended that Cuadrilla should be refused planning consent for two proposed shale gas exploration sites in Blackpool.
A report issued by the inspectors advises against planning consent for Cuadrilla’s Roseacre Wood site and its Preston New Road site in the Plumpton area of the seaside town due to the level of noise and traffic that would be generated by the sites.
The recommendation to refuse planning consent comes despite the issuing of environmental permits for Preston New Road by the Environment Agency last week.
“We are very disappointed that Lancashire County Council’s Planning Officers have recommended that the Council’s Development Control Committee refuse planning consent for both our applications,” sais a Cuadrilla spokesman.
“Officers have recommended refusal at Preston New Road only on grounds of night-time noise and at Roseacre Wood on noise and traffic concerns. We note that the Planning Officer’s report has accepted the principle of our proposals and is satisfied with all other aspects of the planning applications and in particular their conclusion that properly regulated hydraulic fracturing is ‘very low risk’. We believe that the limited grounds on which the officers have recommended refusal can be satisfactorily resolved.”
Lancashire County Council’s Development Control Committee will meet between Wednesday and Friday next week to consider Cuadrilla’s planning applications for the sites.
While planning inspectors recommended the committee turn down the applications to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from up to four exploration wells at each of the site, they have supported parallel applications made by Cuadrilla for the installation of seismic monitoring equipment at each of the proposed Blackpool sites.
“In the end the councillors on the Development Control Committee will have to weigh the relatively minor impacts which affect only a small number of households and for which we have proposed adequate proposals for mitigation against the wider local and national, jobs, growth and economic as well as energy security opportunities,” said the Cuadrilla spokesman.
“We will await the councillors’ decisions on both these applications and we believe that all of the limited issues that have been raised can be resolved.”
