Call on fracking change in Lancashire
Minister urged to withhold final consent on fracking
Friends of the Earth (FoE) and local campaigners including Friends are calling Greg Clark, the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy not to give final consent to allow fracking to go ahead in Lancashire, even as drilling was reported to have begun at Preston New Road last week.
Greg Clark still has to give final consent before the hydraulic fracturing process can begin.
FoE say that support for fracking is at an all-time low and with local opposition argue that it is not too late for the government to admit it has ‘got it wrong’ on the issue.
Drilling at the Preston New Road site would take place twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This would cause noise and considerable disruption to the local community.
Councillors in Lancashire voted to reject fracking in their area in 2015 but the government in Westminster overturned the decision.
Fracking is currently banned in Ireland and France, in the Netherlands until 2020, and there is a moratorium in Scotland and Wales while the risks are investigated.
