People are invited to comment on a bid by Cuadrilla to extend the life of its former fracking site near Blackpool. A public consultation runs until Thursday 7 August 2025.

An application by Cuadrilla was published earlier this month for a two-year extension of planning permission for the Preston New Road shale gas site.

The company said the extension was needed to allow for environmental monitoring required by the Environment Agency.

Lancashire County Council, which will decide the application, previously granted a two-year extension to the planning permission in June 2023.

But Cuadrilla failed to meet the deadline in that permission for plugging and abandoning the site’s two horizontal wells by December 2024 or the restoration of the land to agriculture by June 2025.

At the time of writing, the site restoration work is 46 days overdue.

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council told DrillOrDrop:

“The timescale proposed by the applicant for these restoration works is likely to be a key consideration and officers will want to be satisfied in their report and recommendation to the Development Control Committee that restoration works to return the site to agricultural land are being expedited as swiftly as possible.”

The council added “Cuadrilla has confirmed to us that the plugging and abandonment phase is now complete”.

The industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) confirmed in correspondence to the council on 17 July 2025 that the wells had been plugged and abandoned “to industry standards”.

Lancashire County Council also told us:

“With these works completed, Cuadrilla advertised and has submitted a new application to allow the time limit for completion of restoration works to be extended until 30 June 2027.

“This application has been validated and has been published on the county council’s planning register.  It can be viewed on our website at Planning application by searching for Application Number LCC/2025/0018.”

County councillor John Singleton (Conservative), who also represents the area around the site on Fylde Borough Council, has already objected to the proposal.

He said the environmental monitoring work “was always known in order to demonstrate no lasting harm has been caused. This should have been taken into account over the previous 2 year extension”.

He said:

“In my opinion, it appears no one from this authority is monitoring the progress or lack of progress on these important milestones concerning the extensions. Our council tax payers, and those of our neighbouring district authorities, must be alarmed at lack of enforcement.

“The last time an extension was granted in 2023, it included all the decommissioning activities the council is being asked to extend again.

“In my opinion the land has not received the attention it should to meet the planning deadlines and I object to another 2 year extension as I fear in another 2 years we will be asking for another extension.”

He added that the extension, if approved, should be reduced to 18 months.

Online details now indicate that the application will be decided by the county council’s development control committee, rather than delegated to officers. No date has yet been set for the committee meeting.

DrillOrDrop will report on the responses to the planning application and the council’s decision.  

Link to application LCC/2025/0018