240+ households share Cuadrilla’s shale gas community payment
Cuadrilla’s rig at Preston New Road, near Blackpool, 1 January 2018. Photo: Ros Wills
Cuadrilla said this morning more than 240 households living near its Preston New Road shale gas site near Blackpool have received a share of a £100,000 community benefit payment.
The company said 85% of entitled local residents had applied for the money. The payment is linked to the second shale gas well drilled at Preston New Road.
The £100,000 was split proportionately between households living within 1.5km of the site, Cuadrilla said. Households within 1km were entitled to about £2,000. Those between 1km and 1.5km were entitled to £150.
Money linked to the first well was paid into a community benefit fund. Grants from this fund will be paid to community projects local to the site in early spring this year, the company said.
Cuadrilla’s Chief Executive, Francis Egan, said in a statement:
“We are delighted to have made these payments directly to local householders after listening to their views on how the community payment should be distributed.
“It was encouraging to see so many of those entitled for a share of the £100,000 applying, with over 240 households local to the Preston New Road exploration site benefiting.
“Together with over 50 local jobs created and nearly £5m being invested to date in Lancashire, our community benefits initiative is another important example of how we are committed to putting Lancashire first from our shale gas exploration.”
