Lancashire County Council is expected to announce by the end of January what action it will take on Cuadrilla’s fracking site which is now in breach of planning permission.

Two shale gas wells at the Preston New Road site near Blackpool should have been plugged and abandoned by last month (December 2024).

But the site operator, Cuadrilla, failed to meet the deadline.

Today a council spokesperson told DrillOrDrop

“Considerable work is being undertaken to decide the best options going forward to secure the full decommissioning of the Preston New Road shale gas site.

“As per the planning conditions that are currently in place, Cuadrilla needed to decommission the wells at the site by December 8, 2024 but failed to do this in time. They also need to restore the site back to agricultural land by June [2025].

 “We are due to decide the next steps that we will take. We will announce the outcome of our decision by the end of the month.”

The Preston New Road site has been suspended since 2019 when fracking caused a series of small earthquakes. Some equipment, including a flare, remains on the site.

DrillOrDrop understands that residents have contacted the Fylde MP, Andrew Snowdon, expressing frustration about delays to restoring the site.

Correspondence released in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request shows that Mr Snowdon has been in touch with the county council.

The authority’s team leader for development management emailed Cuadrilla’s planning consultant on 7 October 2024. The official said:

“I am just enquiring if there is any further movement with PNR [Preston New Road]. I am getting quite a few enquiries to me including via the MP. The residents are clearly aware that the deadline for abandonment of the boreholes and removal of infrastructure is approaching in December and are of the view that it will now be impossible to meet the date within the planning permission. There does not appear to have been any activity on the site.”

The FOI response also suggests that the county council was unwilling to extend the planning permission further. In June 2023, Cuadrilla got an extra 18 months in which to decommission the wells and two more years to restore the site.

The team leader said in the email:

“I don’t think we will be able to support a further time extension and if the site is not restored we will be requested to use our enforcement powers. Several residents are already asking about this.”

The planning consultant replied:

“I’m speaking with Cuadrilla later this week, and will ask for an update. Once I know further details I’ll give you a call”.

The FOI response reveals that the official and consultant were due to meet on 7 November 2024.

That meeting had been requested by the council officer who wrote:

“Are you free this week sometime so I can provide you with some advice and feedback on the highway issues regarding site restoration.”

In December 2024, Cuadrilla told Lancashire County Council the delay over decommissioning the wells was caused by a shortage of rigs. It said the work was now expected to take until the end of March 2025.

The planning permission requires the site to be restored to farmland by 8 June 2025, now 151 days away. Cuadrilla told the council:

“It remains Cuadrilla’s intention to restore the site back to its original condition by June 2025.”

Opponents of Cuadrilla’s activity have criticised the tone and content of the correspondence.

Before today’s council statement, Miranda Cox, of Frack Free Lancashire, said:

“I had hoped for a little more formality and professionalism especially as Cuadrilla are in breach of their planning permission on such a serious issue.

“I particularly feel the comments about the local community give the impression we are an irritant to LCC [Lancashire County Council] and that it’s us that need to be appeased rather than Cuadrilla being made to comply with their planning consent.

“I was enormously angered by the comment that the planning officer made regarding being unable to support a further extension to the timescale as if that would have been an option.”

John Hobson, of Refracktion, also speaking before today’s statement, said:

“it sounds as though LCC haven’t exactly been challenging Cuadrilla on their delaying tactics. 

“It also sounds as though local residents’ concerns were viewed by LCC planners as an annoyance. 

“LCC don’t seem to care overmuch about the delay but they may (annoyingly for them) be forced to get off their backsides and do something if Cuadrilla don’t make the 2025 deadline.”

Lancashire County Council’s development control committee, which issued Cuadrilla’s extended planning permission, meets on Wednesday 15 January 2025, at 10.30am. The Preston New Road site is not currently on the agenda but the meeting can consider urgent items.

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