A Conservative-led council in Lancashire has voted unanimously to demand the government stick to its manifesto commitment against fracking, and to demand clarity on what constitutes “local consent” for the controversial form of energy extraction.
Fylde council is home to Preston New Road, the only site in Britain which has been fracked, by the energy company Cuadrilla. Operations there caused small earth tremors, breaching the regulated limits and prompting the government to implement a moratorium on fracking in November 2019.
The following month, Boris Johnson won a landslide victory with a manifesto that said: “We will not support fracking unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely.”
But shortly after taking over as prime minister in September, Liz Truss pledged to “end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale which could get gas flowing as soon as six months where there is local support for it”.
Karen Buckley, the leader of Fylde council, introduced an amended motion on Wednesday night that called on the government to “set out how local consent will be ascertained” and to “demonstrate the manifesto commitment of 2019”. The motion also demanded that local decision-making on the issue be maintained.
All 40 councillors present voted for the motion.
Speaking during the preceding debate, the councillor Paul Hayhurst dismissed an idea that the government could try to buy residents’ support with one-off payments. He claimed proximity to a fracking site “blights” house prices, saying local residents near one proposed well had to sell for £50,000 under the asking price.
“The government is talking about giving people £1,000 to support fracking. Well, that would really be like turkeys voting for Christmas. The fact is, you take your £1,000 and it will cost you £50,000 when you try to sell your houses,” he said.
The councillor Matthew Lee said he conducted an online survey last week to canvas residents and got “many hundreds of responses”.
“The figures were conclusive … 85% are against fracking,” he said. “That is not local consent in any way you look at it.”
He said that while a minority were in favour, on the grounds it could help solve the energy crisis, “it will take 10 years for this to make any difference to our energy needs so I don’t personally accept that”.
In an interview with Radio Lancashire at the end of September, Truss struggled to explain what would constitute local consent for fracking, saying: “The energy secretary will be laying out, er, in more detail exactly what that looks like but it does mean making sure there is local support for going ahead.”
