A parliamentary candidate has accused a campaign group of ‘scaremongering’ after it claimed the Tories are proposing to ‘railroad fracking through against the wishes’ of residents.
Analysis by Friends of the Earth revealed 199 constituencies across the UK – including Warrington North and Warrington South – could face the threat of test drilling without planning permission under plans unveiled in the Conservative manifesto.
A total of 56 of them are in the north west.
The manifesto proposed to let fracking firms with exploration licences carry out test drills for shale gas without any need for planning permission.
The move would require a change in the law to bring drilling under the ‘permitted development’ regime, originally designed to deal with minor and low impact building works, such as changing garden fences.
Under the current spread of licences, the proposed change would mean 199 constituencies across the UK face ‘fast-track’ test drilling following Thursday’s General Election.
The party’s manifesto also pledged to change the law so that full-scale fracking applications could be taken away from local councils, if the application is considered ‘major’.
Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Friends of the Earth senior planner, said: “This proposal could see shale gas test drills puncture the countryside left, right and centre – with local democracy trampled underfoot.
“We are also extremely concerned that the final decision on proposals for full-scale fracking could be taken away from local councillors.
“This is hugely undemocratic, marginalises the views of local people, and goes against the Tories own localism agenda.
“If there was a referendum on fracking, it would be banished to the dustbin of history, not least because it is completely incompatible with stopping climate change.
“Instead, the Conservatives are proposing to railroad it through against the wishes of local people and the wider public.”
Warrington South Tory parliamentary candidate David Mowat has hit out at the group.
He said: “There is a small site on the edge of Penketh, which has been using unconventional drilling for the last seven years.
“I’ve never received a single complaint about the operation of the site and most people don’t even know it’s there.
“This sort of scaremongering is deeply unhelpful.”
In July 2015, Labour’s Warrington North parliamentary candidate Helen Jones called on the town to declare itself an ‘anti-fracking borough’.
Responding to the Tory plans, she said: “I have voted against fracking in parliament and continue to oppose the practice.
“In fact I voted for a moratorium on fracking because the case for the procedure has not been adequately made and the technology does not have sufficient safeguards.
“In the past Tories here in Warrington have welcomed fracking companies saying the town is open for their business.
“Their manifesto makes clear that they want to proceed down this road, circumventing local democracy with dictates from Whitehall.”
No fracking is currently taking place in Warrington but planning permission exists at three locations for ‘activities related to the extraction of unconventional gas’.
The Doe Green site in Penketh is ‘operational’ for the extraction of coal bed methane, while land in Woolston, which is adjacent to the M6 junction 21, was granted planning permission for the ‘exploration of boreholes’ in 2010 – development commenced in 2015.
Land off Waterworks Lane in Winwick also has planning permission.
Licences for fracking are issued by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
The council is not currently in receipt of any application for planning permission for fracking.
A spokesman said: “The council has acted responsibly in setting up a working group to review this important issue.
“This will help to ensure that it is in a position to respond to any change to legislation or in the event that the current position changes.
“The task group initially met to develop an understanding of fracking and some of the environmental impacts.
“The group also developed an understanding of the impact of an application, in relation to the planning process, and what resources are required to ensure the planning process is undertaken in a balanced manner.
“There has been a further meeting to understand the role of the different regulators and the regulators role before, during and after a planning application.
“It is likely further meetings will be arranged to meet the groups who are for and against fracking.
“The council will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation via the working group and any planning application for fracking within the borough would be subject to consultation.”
Article originally published by Warrington Guardian
