15th August 2014

Today is the final day for responses to the government’s consultation on its plans to change the trespass laws to allow oil and gas companies to drill under land without permission.

The consultation was launched at the end of May but soon after the government published draft legislation in the Infrastructure Bill, which would implement its proposals to allow underground access below 300 metres without the landowner’s consent.

This morning Greenpeace urged the government to scrap the consultation because it says the main document contained “incomplete and misleading information”.

Under the current system homeowners can refuse permission to companies that want to drill under their property. The companies can ask the courts to overrule the decision. A judge would have to decide whether drilling was in the national interest and whether the landowner had reasonable grounds to refuse permission.

Greenpeace says the consultation failed to mention the “reasonable grounds” argument. The organisation says the consultation “gives the misleading impression that courts can decide on the basis of national interest alone”.

Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Louise Hutchins said: “This consultation has failed the basic requirement of being straightforward and transparent with the public. If ministers don’t discard this bungled process and start a fairer one, they’ll lay themselves open to potential legal challenges. This is too important an issue to let the government get away with a dismissive attitude towards people’s views.”