In a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for horizontal fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.
It means, for the first time, UK shale rock will be fracked horizontally, which is expected to yield more gas. A second site, Roseacre Wood, has not yet been given the green light amid concerns over the impact on the area.
Lancashire County Council (LCC) refused permission to extract shale gas at both sites last year on the grounds of noise and traffic impact, but Cuadrilla appealed. In response to the decision, LCC has called on the Government to do more to address people's concerns about fracking.
"It is clear the Government supports the development of a shale gas industry, but I would ask them to do more to address the concerns of local communities and the councillors who represent them by supporting the best environmental controls," it said.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan said: "We have been through an exhaustive environmental impact assessment on this. We have assessed everything; noise, traffic, water, emissions, etc. The Environment Agency are entirely comfortable with it."
Environmentalists and local campaign groups reacted angrily, saying it was a denial of local democracy, with Friends of the Earth campaigner Pollyanna Steiner commenting: "Fracking goes against everything we need to do to tackle climate change. The Government must end its fixation with dirty fossil fuels and focus instead on harnessing the UK's huge renewable energy resource."
