Decisions about fracking lack legitimacy because the public perceive that decision-makers lack expertise. That’s a key finding of new research into how people likely to be affected by fracking see the process of deciding on shale gas proposals.
Last year campaigner Ben Dean brought a legal challenge against the Oil & Gas Authority, the body which issues exploration licences to drilling companies on behalf of the government. He argued that the OGA had made unlawful changes to a licence for the area near Chester where he […]
For this weekend’s long read, Ben Dean explores the rules behind onshore Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs) and examines the decisions to be made for a group of PEDLs this year.
The English Wildlife Trusts announced earlier this year that they opposed fracking. The Trusts said this was because they believed that shale gas extraction undermined UK efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. In this guest post, Alan Wright, of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, […]
Mark Robinson, Campaigns and Policy Assistant at Campaign to Protect Rural England, argues that radical changes are needed to national planning policy to prevent the threat of fracking to the countryside and the communities who live and enjoy it.
By Kathryn McWhirter Community campaigners against drilling for oil near Leith Hill plan to hand a 100,000+-strong petition to the Environment Agency at a meeting this week in Dorking. But at a press conference yesterday, Environment Agency staff said they were not prepared to be seen receiving the […]
As companies across the Weald in southern England begin using acidisation as part of Kimmeridge oil exploration, a campaign group has published a new leaflet about the technique. In this Guest Post, The Weald Action Group, an alliance of community organisations across the region, explains why it produced […]
