A leaked government plan, published by The Telegraph today, proposed taking decisions for fracking wells away from local councils.
The 10-page document, signed by three cabinet members and sent to the Chancellor, aimed to create the conditions to establish a shale gas industry in the UK within a decade.
It was written on 7th July 2015, just days after the decisions by Lancashire County Council to refuse permission to Cuadrilla to frack wells in the Fylde.
The signatories, Liz Truss (Environment Secretary), Amber Rudd (Energy and Climate Change) and Greg Clark (Communities and Local Government) proposed classifying fracking sites as “nationally significant infrastructure”. If approved this would give decisions to unelected planning inspectors.
Friends of the Earth, which obtained the document, described the proposal as “an attack on democracy”.
Full Drill or Drop report here…….
