Greenpeace has appealed to Britain’s transparency watchdog, the Information Commissioner, over the UK Government’s “repeated refusal” to publish the full version of a heavily redacted report on the impacts of fracking.
The environmental campaigners want ministers to release the report in full before a crucial vote by Lancashire authorities on whether to allow shale firm Cuadrilla to frack in the area.
Greenpeace argues councillors should have access to all the available evidence in making a decision which is likely to have significant repercussions for communities in Lancashire and beyond.
The redacted study, Shale Gas Rural Economy Impacts, is the only known government report looking at the full range of fracking’s potential side effects, from public health to house prices and rural businesses, Greenpeace said.
Louise Hutchins UK energy campaigner for the group, added: “The government is acting like a judge who’s pressing the jury to take a certain verdict, while hiding exhibit A behind his back.
“It makes a mockery of David Cameron’s commitment to transparency and is a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of people living in communities potentially affected by fracking.
“Authorities in Lancashire and elsewhere in the country are about to make crucial decisions on whether to allow this controversial industry in their area.
“They should be given access to all the available evidence, not have it cherry-picked for them by the government.
“Ministers should end this transparency travesty, publish the report in full, and give people a chance to make up their own minds about fracking.”
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs released the controversial document in July last year following a freedom of information request by Greenpeace.
But 63 passages were blacked out in the version made available to the public, including a whole section on the impact of fracking on house prices.
In turning down Greenpeace’s requests for a full disclosure, government officials from both Defra and the Department of Energy and Climate Change argued that there was a “strong public interest in withholding the information” as it could ‘mislead and distort the public debate on shale gas.
Lancashire County Council recently passed a unanimous motion urging the government to release the report in full “in the interests of transparency”.
The Scottish Government has declared a moratorium on fracking developments north of the border until further notice.
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