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Fracking failure for Cameron as shale gas looks set to stay in the ground

David Cameron's announcements that the UK would go all out for shale faced a huge setback this week as the first two planning applications for hydraulic fracturing since his announcement were rejected by Lancashire County Council.

The long awaited decisions on two sites in Lancashire come after months of delay and were made despite advice from the council's legal expert that refusal at one of the sites could result in an appeal by applicant energy firm Cuadrilla. During committee meetings held last week to discuss planning application for four test wells at the Preston New Road site, members of the Development Control Committee argued that the proposal was contrary to Policy DM2 of the Lancashire Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

However planning officers from the council had already advised that the scheme complies with DM2, which is concerned with the impacts of oil and gas related activities, and recommended that permission be approved. Written advice from legal expert presented to the committee warned that the refusal could be deemed unreasonable and lead to an appeal from the applicant.

"While a refusal which is not backed by substantial objective evidence cannot be described as unlawful, it nonetheless can readily be described as unreasonable in planning terms.” 

 Written evidence of David Manley, QC of Kings Chambers in Manchester

“I am unaware of any objective evidence that can gainsay the above conclusions.  While a refusal which is not backed by substantial objective evidence cannot be described as unlawful, it nonetheless can readily be described as unreasonable in planning terms,” stated David Manley, QC of Kings Chambers in Manchester, in written evidence to the council. “If a refusal based on DM2 (or any other generalised policy) were to be issued, it is highly likely that the Applicant will appeal.”

Planning permission for another test site at Roseacre Wood was refused on Thursday following recommendations from the council’s planning officers that permission should be refused over unacceptable traffic impacts. “It would generate an increase in traffic, particularly HGV movements, that would result in an unacceptable impact on the rural highway network and on existing road users, particularly vulnerable road users and a reduction in overall highway safety that would be severe,” advised planners.

Cuadrilla said it would now consider appealing the decisions. “We are surprised and disappointed that Lancashire County Council’s Development Control Committee has denied planning consent for our application to explore for shale gas at Preston New Road, particularly as their decision follows a positive recommendation by the Council’s Planning Officers.  We remain committed to the responsible exploration of the huge quantity of natural gas locked up in the shale rock deep underneath Lancashire. We will now take time to consider our options regarding an appeal for Preston New Road, along with also considering appeals for  the planning applications recently turned down, against Officer advice, for monitoring and site restoration at Grange Hill, and last week’s decision to refuse the Roseacre Wood application."

"We will now take time to consider our options regarding an appeal.”

Cuadrilla

The firm said that it had been over a year since the application was submitted to the Council which involved submission of a 4,000 page Environmental Statement that involved thousands of hours of work. Consultant Arup produced the report for the Cuadrilla.

The two applications are the first in the UK since the government lifted its moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in December 2012.  Final decisions on whether or not to approve the schemes were expected in January but further submissions from the energy company over noise mitigation measures led to the decision being postponed until June.

If you would like to contact Bernadette Ballantyne about this, or any other story, please email bernadette.ballantyne@infrastructure-intelligence.com:2016-1.