Eco-activists welcome Greater Manchester’s ‘no’ to fracking
Greater Manchester's decision to say 'no' to franking is welcomed by eco-activists
Quaker campaigners in Lancashire have welcomed the decision by Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, to oppose fracking in the region’s ten local councils. The Labour mayor put Manchester City Council on what many think could be a collision course with the government when he said that drilling companies had failed to make their case, following a series of earthquakes in Lancashire. Other local councils are expected to follow suit.
The policy unveiled this month shows that all ten local authorities will write into their planning guidance a ‘presumption’ against any request to drill for shale gas.
Friends welcomed the news, but sounded a note of caution in light of the fact that Lancashire County Council had its decision to suspend fracking at the Preston New Road site near Blackpool overruled by the government in autumn 2016. While fracking has not yet taken place in Greater Manchester, there has been exploratory drilling at Barton Moss in Salford, prompting widespread protests in 2014, involving some Friends.
Sandra Dutson, from Eccles Meeting and a member of the No Faith in Fracking group, told the Friend: ‘It’s wonderful, but how much weight it carries I don’t know, if the government continues on its current track of being able to veto local government decisions. The concern among campaigners is that Lancashire County Council had come out against fracking, but the government overruled a democratic process. So, there’s still a question mark.’
According to Sandra Dutson, who lives a mile and a half from Barton Moss and was involved in the protests: ‘The Barton Moss experience helped clarify things in Manchester. Andy Burnham has been consulting widely and there’s been a lot of lobbying in Greater Manchester, where there’s a very active frack-free movement. Our local MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, has also been to Preston New Road and been very supportive.’
The announcement came as campaigners at the Preston New Road site were cautiously celebrating the removal of equipment by Cuadrilla, the company responsible for shale gas fracking on the site. Lancashire County Council voted to reject a planning application by Cuadrilla, but this was overturned by the government, despite fierce local opposition. The firm resumed drilling, but suspended work following an earth tremor.
Quaker anti-fracking campaigner Hilary Whitehead told the Friend: ‘The general mood is that people are quite excited about what’s happening. There’s a lot of positivity among the campaigners. At the Preston New Road site, lots of equipment is leaving. The rig has been taken down and is in parts on the ground. The good news is that shares of AJ Lucas, the parent company of Cuadrilla, hit a low.’
In response to an enquiry from councillor Gail Hodson, Cuadrilla confirmed on 4 January that it ‘did remove some equipment from the site prior to the Christmas period. However, we anticipate that equipment will be back on site this year to continue operations within the current planning permission. This includes the hydraulic fracturing of the two existing wells and completion of up to four wells in total for exploration purposes.’
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