Government confirms measures to fast-track fracking

Shale gas planning applications will be fast-tracked through a new, dedicated planning process, under measures confirmed by the government today.

The measures include identifying councils which repeatedly fail to determine oil and gas applications within the 16-week statutory timeframe, with subsequent applications potentially decided by the communities secretary.

The government will also ensure planning call-ins and appeals involving shale applications are prioritised by the Planning Inspectorate.

Energy secretary Amber 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.

“Oversight by the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency of shale developments makes our commitment to safety and the environment crystal clear. We now need, above all else, a system that delivers timely planning decisions and works effectively for local people and developers.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the measures see ministers consider calling in any application for shale exploration, and will recover appeals on a case-by-case basis.

Local communities will remain fully involved in planning decisions with any shale application, whether decided by councils or Government, it assured. Demanding planning rules to ensure shale development happens only at appropriate sites remain unchanged.

Rudd hinted at the measures in a blog for The Times newspaper at the weekend. “We can’t continue with a system that sees applications dragged out for months, or even years on end, which doesn’t give certainty to industry and which could spell the end of a potentially vital national industry,” she wrote. “We need a system that delivers timely planning decisions.”