Councillors voting on Lancashire fracking site
Cuadrilla have applied to stay at the site on Preston New Road until 2025
Lancashire County Council's development control committee will meet today to discuss Cuadrilla's request to extend the restoration deadline for the Preston New Road fracking gas site until June 30, 2025.
The previous deadline for site restoration was April 5, 2023. No activity has taken place at the site since August 26, 2019, when a small earthquake was detected and felt by some local residents who claimed it caused property damage. A ban on fracking across the country was introduced.
Calls are now being made for immediate restoration of the Preston New Road site to its original use as agricultural land, without any further delay, as protesters prepare to gather outside county hall.
Councillor Nick Danby is a member of 'Frack Free Lancashire'.
He said:
“Fracking in the UK is finished. The current government has made it plain that there is no prospect of any resumption of fracking and the opposition parties have all made it equally plain that they are opposed to fracking.
"The only party still not recognising the futility of fracking is Cuadrilla. It really is about time that Lancashire County Council made a stand. There are absolutely no grounds for extending the timetable for the restoration of the Preston New Road site and Cuadrilla's application should be refused. This is yet another ploy by Cuadrilla to avoid their responsibilities and we do not want the cost of clean-up and restoration to fall to the taxpayer.
“The community has had enough of Cuadrilla and their cavalier attitude to the regulatory framework. They should restore the site and get out of town.”