Keep fracking decisions local – Lancashire to tell ministers
The county which hosted the UK’s only high volume fracking sites voted unanimously this afternoon to keep planning decisions on the process with the local planning authority.
The county which hosted the UK’s only high volume fracking sites voted unanimously this afternoon to keep planning decisions on the process with the local planning authority.
Conservative councillors in Lancashire have been accused of using a “wrecking amendment” for a second time to block support for their government’s policy on the rules on seismic activity induced by fracking.
There are no circumstances in which Lancashire County Council could have a “meaningful debate” about the fracking industry, its Conservative leader has told DrillOrDrop.
To shouts of “disgraceful” and “ridiculous”, Lancashire County Council voted to adjourn a debate on the regulation of earth tremors caused by fracking.
Opponents of shale gas have been demonstrating their support for the first men sent to prison in the UK for protesting against fracking.
12 people, including three councillors, have been found guilty of obstructing the highway after a lock-on protest outside Cuadrilla’s shale gas site in July. But they were cleared of trades union charges which can carry a more serious penalty.
Three women from Lancaster locked themselves to a boat outside Cuadrilla’s shale gas site to protest about extraction of fossil fuels.
Updated 31 July 2017 More than 4,000 people have signed a petition in the past four days calling for the enforcement of planning conditions at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire.
Councillors in Lancashire have urged the local government secretary, Greg Clark, to take no part in the decision on planning appeals over fracking in the county.
“Strong forces in Whitehall” want to take planning decisions about fracking away from local authorities, councillors in Lancashire have been warned.