Fracking firm denied more time to restore site

An energy firm has been refused more time to put its former fracking site in Lancashire - what was one of only two shale gas wells in the UK - back to farmland.

Cuadrilla had applied to Lancashire County Council for an extra two years to restore the Preston New Road site, near Blackpool.

Members of the development control committee unanimously voted to reject the request after hearing from a number of speakers, all opposed to any extension. Cuadrilla has been approached by the BBC for comment.

The site was the country's first horizontal fracking site but after more than 120 tremors were recorded during drilling the process was suspended, most recently in 2022 by the then government.

Fracking saw protests from environmentalist groups and local communities, which welcomed the refusal of the extension, calling it a "good result".

In its application, Cuadrilla asked for "further time for the Environment Agency groundwater permit surrender process to be completed and then for the site restoration works to be carried out".

It had been granted a previous extension until June this year, a deadline that was missed with the meeting hearing that work to plug two wells only took place in spring.

During the debate, committee member Adrian Owens from the Our West Lancashire Party said the company had "not demonstrated good faith."

He said: "When they came for a two-year extension, you would have thought they had everything lined up, ready to go, the moment they got that approval in 2023 to start the required work and monitoring, they hadn't done any of that, if we gave them the extension, it would be an excuse to delay still further."

Reform UK county councillor Clive Balchin told the debate he had "some sympathy" for Cuadrilla.

But, he went on to say, he was "a rules is rules man" and believed "residents affected by applications should not be disadvantaged or ignored by the county council."

Conservative county councillor John Singleton also spoke at the meeting against granting an extension and afterwards said he "was very pleased, I think it's common sense, if the extension was applied, I firmly believe there would be another one two years later."

Nick Danby, from Frack Free Lancashire, gave a cautious welcome and said: "I'm not going to be jubilant about it until the site is actually restored, this is a good result and we're very pleased about it."

Helen Rimmer, of Friends of the Earth, also welcomed the result. "We're pleased the council has rejected Cuadrilla's attempt to delay clean-up of this former fracking site - but it should have been forced to restore this land to agricultural use long ago.

"Lancashire County Council must now take enforcement action and instruct Cuadrilla to restore the site immediately, in accordance with monitoring requirements."

The practice of fracking has been suspended numerous times over the last few decades, most recently in 2022, over concerns about earthquakes and environmental impacts.

In October, the government said it was planning to pass a new law to ban it permanently in England.

Cuadrilla can appeal against the decision.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook,Twitter/X, and Instagram. You can also email your story ideas to [email protected], and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.