Cuadrilla fracking site – council enforces restoration
The controversial shale gas site at Preston New Road in Lancashire must be returned to farmland by the end of the year, officials confirmed today (8 June 2026).
The controversial shale gas site at Preston New Road in Lancashire must be returned to farmland by the end of the year, officials confirmed today (8 June 2026).
Environmental campaigners and community groups have welcomed this morning’s decision by Lancashire County Council to refuse more time for restoration of a controversial fracking site.
The former fracking company, Cuadrilla, has lost its bid for more time to restore its Lancashire shale gas site at Preston New Road, near Blackpool.
Decommissioning of Cuadrilla’s mothballed fracking wells is due to get underway within days after a crane was delivered to the site near Blackpool.
People living near Cuadrilla’s mothballed fracking site in Lancashire say they are disappointed about the lack of progress on plugging and abandoning the wells and returning the land to farming.
Cuadrilla’s plan to decommission its fracked wells in Lancashire is already behind schedule.
The UK’s most controversial shale gas site has won a two-year reprieve before it must be returned to farmland.
Anti-fracking groups in Lancashire are calling on the government and regulators to order the permanent plugging and abandonment of wells at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site.
Three campaign organisations have taken the first step in a legal challenge to the government’s lifting of the moratorium on fracking in England.
People living near Cuadrilla’s Lancashire fracking site have reacted with concern following news that the Health and Safety Executive is facing questions from MPs about its monitoring of silica sand.