The government is risking the ire of environmental campaigners and its own supporters with changes to laws to make it easier to frack under people’s homes.
A new Infrastructure Bill could include measures to change the law so that companies would not need permission from homeowners to drill under houses and land for shale oil and gas.
It is intended to remove a stumbling block for shale developers, who are already facing a “legal block” of thousands of people across the country denying them permission under trespass laws to drill under their properties .
But the move is likely to be highly controversial, with a recent poll finding that 74% of people opposed the move, including 73% of Conservative voters and 70% of Liberal Democrat supporters.
The poll carried out for Greenpeace also revealed 80% of Labour voters and 77% of those planning to vote Ukip opposed the move.
Ahead of the announcement in the Queen’s Speech, the environmental campaign group staged a protest over the move at David Cameron’s home, turning it into a “fracking site”.
Greenpeace said activists in hard hats and high-vis jackets turned up on the doorstep of the Prime Minister’s cottage in the Cotswold hamlet of Dean, Oxfordshire, sealing off the property’s front gate with security fencing.
Protesters erected a sign which read “We apologise for any inconvenience we may cause while we frack under your home”, and ordered complaints to be directed to Mr Cameron’s office.
Activists later dismantled the protest after being ordered by police to leave the area.
Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said: “We have to say the police have a point, you shouldn’t be allowed to just turn up outside someone’s home and start fracking under their garden without their permission.
“But following today’s announcement, we’re one big step closer to a law that will compel police to side with the frackers over home-owners.
“The Prime Minister is robbing millions of their right to say no to fracking under their homes for the benefit of a few energy companies.
“He should stop chasing this shale pipe-dream to focus on the real-world solutions that can boost our energy and climate security, like slashing energy waste and backing clean technologies.”
The Government is pushing for the development of a shale gas industry in the UK, claiming it would create jobs and growth, reduce energy prices and cut the country’s reliance on gas imports.
But opponents have raised fears that the process causes earthquakes, and can pollute water supplies, lead to inappropriate development in the countryside and damage house prices.
There are also concerns that exploiting shale gas could harm investment in renewables and undermine efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change.
