The UK’s most controversial shale gas site has won a two-year reprieve before it must be returned to farmland.

County councillors meeting in Preston voted today on party lines to give Cuadrilla more time to restore Preston New Road, where fracking caused earthquakes in 2018 and 2019.

Seven Conservatives supported the extension, many warning that Cuadrilla was likely to appeal if the company’s application was refused. Five Labour members abstained.

The Preston New Road site can now remain until June 2025.

Local opponents were disappointed by the result. After the meeting, Susan Holliday, chair of Preston New Road Action Group (PNRAG), which has campaigned against Cuadrilla’s operations, said:

“It is an unsurprising but disappointing result. It is distressing that our councillors are more concerned about the prospects of a potential appeal if they refuse, rather than preventing harm to the residents.”

John Powney, of Ribble Estuary Against Fracking (REAF), said:

“A disappointingly close result. Cuadrilla once again showed a blatant disregard for agreed planning conditions. We will continue to challenge and monitor until the site is fully restored.”

Tina Rothery, of the Lancashire Nanas, described the councillors who voted for the extension as “weak” and “very timid”.

The local Conservative MP, Mark Menzies, who has opposed operations at the site, said:

“Today’s decision to extend Cuadrilla’s licence at Preston New Road is incredibly disappointing. I share the view of the majority of Fylde residents that fracking is simply not appropriate for our area and I remain assured that, with the Government’s continuing commitment to its moratorium on fracking in the UK, there is simply no future for Preston New Road.

“This decision merely prolongs the site’s inevitable decommissioning and return to its previous farmland state, while coming at significant cost to Cuadrilla and to the immense frustration of residents. I will again be pushing the County Council to ensure that this is the final such extension offered to Cuadrilla and that the company undertake the necessary restoration work as soon as possible.”

Mothballed site

Preston New Road, near Blackpool, has the UK’s only fracked horizontal onshore wells.

The government granted planning permission for shale gas exploration in 2016, after a five-week public inquiry.

Work began in January 2017.

But the earthquakes, including the UK’s largest fracking-induced seismic event measuring 2.9ML, led to the ongoing moratorium on fracking in England. This was lifted briefly in autumn 2022 by the Liz Truss administration but reinstated by Rishi Sunak on his second day in office.

Preston New Road has been largely mothballed for nearly four years. Planning permission expired in April 2023.

County councillors followed the recommendation of planning officers, who said there was no reason to refuse the request to delay restoration. The company had said the extra time was needed to carry out ground water monitoring before site restoration could begin.

Opponents said Cuadrilla knew when the permission was due to expire and should have made plans to restore the site in time. The extra two years asked for by the company were excessive, they said.

Arguments

No one from Cuadrilla addressed the committee but five speakers against the application urged councillors to refuse.

Mrs Holliday, of PNRAG, said Cuadrilla was guilty of either “a lack of planning” or “a hope that the government may change its stance” on fracking.

She said the site remained a “blot on the landscape”. The company had already breached commitments on site restoration and removal of tall structures, such as the remaining flare, she said.

“If LCC [Lancashire County Council] grants this application it will send a clear message to Cuadrilla that planning conditions can be ignored with impunity.”

John Powney, of REAF, said Cuadrilla had a “provable track record of being unable to work within the conditions set by this council”.

He said the company had applied five times for more time to restore another Lancashire shale gas site at Becconsall, near Southport.

Chris Holliday, who lives 500m from Preston New Road, said the site should have been restored by November 2020, when the initial flow test ended.

He said Cuadrilla told planning officers an extended pressure build-up test, where gauges were installed to monitor pressure and downhole conditions, were part of the initial flow test. What should have ended after 90 days, continued for more than 800 days, Mr Holliday said.

“Cuadrilla have successfully played your planning officers and won. Planning officers have not understood or challenged changes affecting conditions. Local residents have been let down.”

Retired haematology consultant, Dr Frank Rugman, said fracking in Colorado in the US was not allowed within 610m of homes because of emissions causing headaches, respiratory issues, and skin and eye irritations. But he said of Preston New Road:

“20 people in 10 households live within 610m of the Cuadrilla site. Their health concerns are valid. In the light of these facts, I firmly advocate for plugging both wells now, ensuring safety and restoring the site to farmland. We must prioritise the health and well-being of our residents.”

Campaigner Geza Tarjanyi urged the committee to honour opponents of fracking at Preston New Road.

The local parish and county councillor, John Singleton (Conservative) accused Cuadrilla in a statement of “a blatant disregard of the planning laws”. He said the company should have acted to restore the site before now.

Cuadrilla’s application had also been opposed by Fylde Borough Council, Westby Parish Council and the MP, Mark Menzies. He said there were no grounds to justify the extension.

The restoration plans have been complicated by a decision due later this month by the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

In February 2022, it ordered Cuadrilla to plug and abandon the wells at Preston New Road. But after lobbying, the order was lifted and Cuadrilla was given another year to produce plans for shale gas production or reuse of the site.

Councillors’ views

Five members of today’s development control committee had decided the original application in June 2015. Then, the council refused planning permission – but this was later overturned on appeal.

Cllr Munsif Dad (Labour), who chaired the committee for the original application, said since then the council had been “very lenient in allowing flexibility to Cuadrilla. He said:

“I do not have any faith in their [Cuadrilla’s] timescale.”

Cllr Stephen Clarke (Conservative) said Cuadrilla had “broken every rule in the book”.

Cllr Steven Holgate (Labour) said a refusal of permission would allow the council to enforce site restoration and “properly supervise” Cuadrilla.

He said without enforcement the company’s application would be “opened ended”:

“Lancashire residents deserve better than that”.

Cllr Barry Yates (Conservative) said an appeal could delay restoration:

“It would be beneficial to all concerned, to our residents, to approve this application and get officers to monitor stage by stage.”

The committee agreed to an additional condition that Cuadrilla should submit updates every six months on progress on site restoration.

But this was met with scepticism by residents. Mrs Holliday, of PNRAG, said:

“I will be interested to see how much progress the required six-monthly monitoring reports show and what will be done if there is a lack of progress.”

Another revised condition required decommissioning and restoration of the site must be completed within 18 months from the date of the planning permission. The timescale for replacement of top soil remained 24 months.

Reporting from this meeting was made possible by donations from DrillOrDrop readers