Fast-tracking fracking bids

Shale gas planning applications are to be fast-tracked through a new, dedicated planning process, under measures announced by the UK government last month, reports Louise Hunnybun. The measures include identifying councils that repeatedly fail to determine oil and gas applications within the 16-week statutory timeframe. If they repeatedly delay, ministers could take over the power to decide all future applications in that local area. The measures mean ministers will consider ‘calling in’ any application for shale exploration as soon as it is submitted to a local authority.

Announcing the plans, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd and Communities Minister Greg Clark said local communities will remain fully involved in planning decisions with any shale application – whether decided by councils or government – but the new measures will ensure communities and the industry benefit from a swift process for developing new sites.

Rudd said: ‘To ensure we get this industry up and running we can’t have a planning system that sees applications dragged out for months, or even years on end. We now need, above all else, a system that delivers timely planning decisions and works effectively for local people and developers.’

Ministers fear companies could be deterred by the example of major delays in the planning process for Cuadrilla’s recent applications to frack at two new sites in Lancashire. Cuadrilla’s plans were rejected more than a year after being submitted (see Petroleum Review, August 2015). The new measures will mean the government will also consider ‘recovering’ any appeals against local council decisions to reject fracking – including Cuadrilla’s proposed appeals against its rejections in Lancashire.

Emma Wild, Head of Upstream Advisory at KPMG, comments: ‘The government’s announcement that ministers will “step in” to avoid prolonged delays in approvals for shale gas and oil drilling, is perhaps its first serious attempt to actively promote the UK’s shale industry as a way to improve energy security. The lengthy process and delays of approvals to date have left the UK’s shale industry struggling to build maturity. The UK needs to drill significantly more wells to understand both the technical and commercial factors, and to properly evaluate the economics of full-scale development.’

Fracking companies have welcomed the plans but environmentalists have called it an ‘affront to local democracy’. Greenpeace’s Daisy Sands says: ‘The contrast between the government’s view that local councils should be “masters of their own destiny” and the new provisions announced is staggering. Local residents could end up with virtually no say over whether their homes and communities are fracked or not.’