Planning officers at  Lancashire County Council have recommended refusing two applications by oil and gas company Cuadrilla to explore for shale gas ahead of a meeting next week by the county council's Development Control Committee to consider them.

Cuadrilla were seeking approval to explore for shale gas by drilling, hydraulically fracking and testing the flow of gas at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood in Lancashire.

Commenting on the refusal, Cuadrilla said:

“We are very disappointed that Lancashire County Council’s Planning Officers have recommended that the Council’s Development Control Committee refuse planning consent for both our applications. Officers have recommended refusal at Preston New Road only on grounds of night-time noise and at Roseacre Road on noise and traffic concerns.“

“We note that the Planning Officer’s report has accepted the principle of our proposals and is satisfied with all other aspects of the planning applications and in particular their conclusion that properly regulated hydraulic fracturing is ‘very low risk’. We believe that the limited grounds on which the officers have recommended refusal can be satisfactorily resolved. Our applications are to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from up to four exploration wells at each of our proposed sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.”

Cuadrilla: "limited issues can be resolved"

The Planning team at Lancashire County Council has raised objections about background noise for both sites. Cuadrilla, supported by independent experts Arup, believe that it has come forward with measures that would mitigate noise of drilling and fracturing and the proposed noise levels are within the limits set out in government guidance.

In a statement Cuadrilla said:

 “In the end the councillors on the Development Control Committee will have to weigh the relatively minor impacts which affect only a small number of households and for which we have proposed adequate proposals for mitigation against the wider local and national, jobs, growth and economic as well as energy security opportunities.”

“We will await the councillors’ decisions on both these applications and we believe that all of the limited issues that have been raised can be resolved.”

Grrenpeace: "Council now faces a clear choice"

Environmental organisation Greenpeace has responded to the Council officers’ recommendation - Greenpeace energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said:

"Many thousands of people in Lancashire are seriously worried about the potential risks of fracking - traffic, noise, water contamination, air pollution, the value of their homes, to name just a few. The concerns about noise and traffic brought up by the planners are a reminder that fracking could be a lot of pain for very little or no gain for communities in Lancashire.”

"The council now faces a clear choice: They can listen to the planners, and the Lancashire residents that elected them - almost two-thirds of whom want a moratorium on fracking. Or they can kowtow to the corporate and political interests keen to force through fracking at almost any cost. The whole country is looking to Lancashire to protect its communities from the unnecessary risks that fracking plays with our futures."