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Fracking firm Cuadrilla has been refused planning permission by Lancashire County Council to explore for shale gas at its Preston New Road site, despite receiving backing from planning officials earlier this month.
Councillors said they have rejected Cuadrilla’s application because of the “visual impact and unacceptable noise”.
The Council deferred its decision on Preston New Road to today after failing to reach a verdict on Thursday, in what has been described as a “considerable set back” for the UK’s burgeoning shale sector.
On Friday, Cuadrilla was refused permission to explore for shale gas at its other Lancashire site, Roseacre Wood. And a related application for a monitoring array at the Preston New Road site has also been rejected by the Council’s development control committee.
In a statement, the company said it was “surprised and disappointed” at the decision, particularly as it “follows a positive recommendation by the Council’s planning officers”.
Cuadrilla said it had completed the “most comprehensive environmental impact assessments ever carried out for operations of this kind”.
“These assessments are the product of thousands of hours of work from independent expert environmental scientists and other engineering specialists and they demonstrate beyond question that the operations can and will be conducted safely and without damage to people’s health or their environment,” it said.
The firm added that it would now “take time to consider its options regarding an appeal for Preston New Road”.
Pinsent Masons planning expert Robbie Owen said the verdict will be viewed as a “considerable set-back for shale gas exploration in England”, adding that it “sends a further unhelpful signal to international investors at a time when the UK’s energy policy is in a state of flux”.
“The events of recent weeks demonstrate a difficult relationship between localism on the one hand and the need to keep the lights on on the other,” he continued. “The next likely move will be an appeal to the secretary of state, but the question for potential investors is whether the UK is simply becoming too difficult and unpredictable a place.”
Global energy industry managing director at consultancy firm Accenture, Melissa Stark, pointed out that, while today’s decision is “important”, even in the most favourable circumstances, large scale development of the shale industry is “at least five if not 10 years away”.
“Many factors required for development are in place in the UK, including an Oil & Gas workforce, a supportive fiscal regime, infrastructure to monetise the resource and limited competition from other resources. Despite this, any one factor, such as social acceptance or land access, can significantly slow down development,” she added.
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