Ministers will intervene on planning applications for controversial fracking operations if local authorities fail to act quickly enough, the government announced on Thursday, in a bid to fast-track fracking.

Industry and the government have been frustrated at the slow rate of progress on exploratory fracking for shale gas and oil in the UK, which has been bogged down in the planning process. Ministers have been told that applications to drill and frack in Lancashire could be delayed by 16 months in an appeals process after they were rejected by Lancashire county council.

Under the new planning guidance issued today, councils will be strongly encouraged to meet the existing deadline of 16 weeks to approve or reject fracking applications. Greg Clark, the secretary of state for communities, will now systematically be able to ‘call in’ applications and decide himself.

David Cameron said last year that the government is “going all out for shale” and energy secretary, Amber Rudd, said after the general election that she would “deliver shale”.

The Lancashire applications by energy company Cuadrilla, to drill and frack eight wells, were first submitted in May 2014, but Lancashire county council’s development control committee repeatedly delayed to consider more evidence. The committee finally rejected the bids in June, on the grounds of unacceptable visual impact and noise.

The new guidance will affect shale applications at an early stage in Yorkshire and the Lancashire case, as shale appeals and call-ins will now be prioritised by the Planning Inspectorate.



Officials said the changes did not affect other planning hurdles that shale gas companies had to go through, such as applying for environment permits.

Clark said: “People’s safety and the environment will remain paramount and communities will always be involved in planning applications but no-one benefits from uncertainty caused by delays in planning decisions. By fast-tracking any appropriate applications, today’s changes will tackle potential hold-ups in the system.”

Marcus Johnstone, cabinet member for environment, planning and cultural services at Lancashire county council, and a Labour councillor on the committee, said that councils already had to make planning decisions within 16 weeks. The reason the Cuadrilla case had “dragged on” so long, he said, was the deadlines had been extended to get more information.



“I can see what the direction of travel is: it’s to remove local determinism, and the right of local people to have a say,” he said of the new guidance.

Johnstone added that reducing the role of local planning risked storing up problems later. “If they [government] don’t gauge the anger now, they run a real risk of not giving the public any outlet to express their views. If you shut out off the safety valve, you’re going to have problems.”

Rudd admitted the UK had not moved very fast yet on shale exploration, but made clear that she would not allow the current delays to continue, saying they don’t serve anybody.

These changes are being made because Government doesn’t agree with democratic decisions councils have been making. Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Friends of the Earth

“What we’re signalling today is the delays that have been taking place on deciding if these applications could go ahead, have simply been taking too long. Local authorities are still going to be very much involved, but the secretary for communities and government will have an increased role in making sure they stick to the planning timetable which is already in place,” she told the BBC.

But campaigners contrasted the government’s approach to localism and shale gas, with its action on planning rules for onshore windfarms. In June, the government changed planning rules to make it easier for local communities to block wind turbines, which now must be “clearly backed” by local people in a local or neighbourhood plan.

Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Friends of the Earth’s planning adviser, said: “Bulldozing fracking applications through the planning system, against the wishes of local people and councils, will simply fan the flames of mistrust and opposition.

“Local authorities have been following the rules. These changes are being made because the Government doesn’t agree with the democratic decisions councils have been making.”



Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP, said: “This is a shockingly anti-democratic and environmentally reckless move. Yet again, ministers are doing the dirty work of the shale gas industry and taking away the rights of local people to say no to fracking, whilst making contemptible claims that fracking is somehow compatible with tackling climate change.”

Industry welcomed the changes, saying the current planning process was “unwieldy”. In a statement, Cuadrilla said: “Local authorities are expected to assess and determine planning applications of all types within a certain timeframe so this announcement is primarily about getting the existing planning system to work as it is intended.”

“There is no good reason why an application for a shale gas exploration site should take three to four times longer to determine than an application for a major housing development a supermarket or a large scale quarry.”

Under the new guidance, officials said councils will be labelled as “underperforming” if they fail to act quickly enough. Johnstone said it was not clear what change there would be, as councils could already be deemed underperforming if they did not determine enough planning applications in time.



The government also said today that it would later this year be detailing the design of a long-promised sovereign wealth fund for shale. Public support for fracking for shale gas has slumped to a new low, with just one in five people backing it, according to government polling published last week.

Today’s planning guidance does with the need for shale gas companies to apply for planning permissions for water monitoring installations at fracking sites, which they will now only have to notify councils of.