Opponents say revised definition of fracking will allow energy firms to bypass planning rules

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The government is facing a fresh legal challenge to its proposals to fast-track new fracking sites by loosening planning regulations.

Ministers said this summer they would drop the requirement for shale gas wells to obtain planning permission by designating fracking sites as national infrastructure projects.

Greg Clark, the business secretary, used a written ministerial statement to tell local authorities they should abide by a definition of fracking that campaigners say is looser than the current one.

Opponents say the new definition allows some companies to claim that their operations do not meet the technical definition of fracking and therefore do not have to face tougher planning decisions.

Fast-track fracking plan by the government prompts criticism Read more

On Monday a high court will decide whether to allow a legal challenge, brought by the mayor of a town in north Yorkshire against two government departments, on the grounds they should have undertaken an assessment required by EU law before Clark’s statement.

The case has been brought by Paul Andrews, the mayor of Malton, which is the nearest town to the KM8 well that Third Energy intends to frack.

He said Clark’s comments had completely undermined protections against fracking in North Yorkshire county council’s local minerals plan.

“It’s about local democracy and also about property rights,” said Andrews, who has raised more than £23,000 through crowdfunding for the challenge. “If the whole of the area is industrialised it’ll have a disastrous effect on property values and kill the tourist trade.”

Councils deciding on fracking applications have so far been able to refer to planning guidance that includes a broad definition of what counts as fracking.

But in his statement, Clark said: “We expect mineral planning authorities [usually county councils] to recognise the fact that parliament has set out in statute the relevant definitions of hydrocarbon, natural gas and associated hydraulic fracturing.”

The definition he referred to is narrower and means a company’s application could be considered not to be fracking depending on the amount of water to be used, which could mean less stringent criteria are applied by planners.

Andrews contends that the government should have conducted a strategic environmental assessment before announcing what amounts to a change in planning policy for local authorities. An EU directive requires governments to undertake such an assessment if their plans are “likely to have significant environmental effects”.

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The government also faces a legal challenge from Friends of the Earth over its planning reforms, which the high court is due to hear in December.

A government spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment while the legal case was ongoing.