Lincolnshire is seeking views on a new blueprint for oil and gas planning for the next 15 years.

The county’s draft minerals plan sets policy that will shape how planning applications for hydrocarbons and other minerals are decided until 2041.

A public consultation document, unveiled last month, says Lincolnshire had 37 permitted oil and gas sites at the start of 2021.

These include what is now the country’s biggest producing onshore gas field at Saltfleetby, where the operator, Angus Energy, recently submitted plans to drill four more wells.

The most recent production data for Saltfleetby show it extracted nearly 5,000 tonnes of gas in May 2024, more than 80% of UK onshore gas.

There are currently 11 producing oil field in Lincolnshire. These include Welton near Lincoln and around Gainsborough, Corringham and Glentworth. Official figures show Lincolnshire’s oil fields produced about 51,000m3 in 2022, 6.24% of UK onshore production.

But two controversial oil proposals by Egdon Resources in Lincolnshire have recently been suspended.

Permission to produce oil from Biscathorpe in the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape (previously known as an area of outstanding natural beauty) was quashed last month after a landmark judgement on climate emissions by the Supreme Court earlier this summer.

Proposals for oil exploration and production at another site at North Kelsey, near Caistor, have been temporarily dropped after Egdon withdrew its challenge against refusal of planning permission.

In 2013, the British Geological Survey identified the Gainsborough trough, south and east of Gainsborough, as a possible shale gas area, where unconventional methods such as fracking would be used.

There has been no fracking in Lincolnshire and no wells drilled specifically to explore for shale gas. A moratorium on fracking in England was introduced in November 2019 and remains in force.

Proposed policies

The draft minerals plan restates national planning policy which requires mineral planning authorities – usually county councils or unitary authorities – to “plan positively” for the three phases of oil and gas development (exploration, appraisal and production).

The main policy for oil and gas in the Lincolnshire minerals plan is SM10. This seeks to ensure that oil and gas developments “take place in an environmentally-acceptable manner”, the document says.

It states:

“Planning permission will be granted for each of the exploration, appraisal and/or production phases of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon extraction provided that the proposals accord with all relevant Development Management Policies and Restoration Policies set out in the Plan.”

All oil and gas proposals also have to meet Lincolnshire’s policies on sustainability and addressing climate change (S1 and S2), the draft plan says.

Policy S1 requires:

“Proposals shall demonstrate that measures to mitigate the causes of, and adapt to, climate change are embedded within the development of the lifetime of the development, and where applicable, the lifetime of its restoration scheme.”

Policy S2 states:

“Proposals for minerals and waste development shall be of high quality and be well designed. Where applicable, planning permission will be granted for minerals and waste development, which utilises innovative design solutions and/or emerging technologies, where this will result in high quality sustainable design.”

Policy SR1, on restoration and aftercare, requires proposals to “demonstrate that the restoration of mineral [and landfill] sites will be of high quality and carried out at the earliest opportunity”.

Official figures show 346 wells have been drilled in Lincolnshire, the second highest county in England. Of these, only 64 are operating. Another 144 are not operating but have not yet been fully decommissioned.

Policy SR2 on after-use of mineral sites requires the new use to be designed “in a way that is not detrimental to the local economy and conserves and enhances the landscape character and the natural and, where applicable, historic environment of the area in which the site is located”.

The policies do not distinguish between conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations. The new plan does not refer to the Supreme Court judgement, which said decision-makers should take account of the carbon emissions from burning oil, as well as emissions from its production process.

The consultation ends at 5pm at Tuesday 24 September 2024.

People can respond to consultation questions online, by email to mineralsandwaste@lincolnshire.gov.uk or by post to Minerals and Waste Policy Team, Planning Services, Lincolnshire County Council, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln, LN1 1YL.

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