A decision date on two proposed exploration sites for shale gas will be next year as more consultation is needed, a council said today.
Energy firm Cuadrilla is seeking planning permission to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from up to four exploration wells across two sites in the Fylde area of west Lancashire.
Councillors at Lancashire County Council are set to make a decision on both applications, with drilling likely to start several months later if approved and the fracking to follow.
Planners had already agreed with Cuadrilla that the application at Roseacre Wood in Inskip would be decided by January 31 and have now also agreed that the application for Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, will be decided by the same date.
It had previously been agreed that the Preston New Road application would be decided by December 31.
In a statement, the council said: “The planners have been working since the applications were received in June to consult with the public and other statutory agencies, and assess the applications, to ensure all the information needed to determine them is put before the development control committee.
“As part of this process, further information on both sites has been provided by Cuadrilla. Lancashire County Council will hold a further consultation to allow for representations on the further information to be made.
“The new determination date for the Preston New Road site will allow time for any representations on the further information for both sites to be considered and addressed in the reports to be presented to the development control committee when the applications are determined.”
Cuadrilla believes that Lancashire’s Bowland basin has the potential to become a leading shale gas resource.
It suspended test drilling in June 2011, following two earthquakes in the area in April and May of that year, one with a magnitude of 2.3 and the other 1.4. The epicentre was thought to be about 500 yards away from a well in Weeton, Lancashire.
An independent report by experts later concluded the drilling was the probable cause of the tremors but it was due to an “unusual combination of geology” at the well site and was unlikely to be repeated.
Hundreds of protesters attended a six-day Reclaim The Power camp in August near the proposed Little Plumpton site to campaign against shale gas extraction in the region by the controversial process.
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