Permitted Development and Shale Gas Exploration

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 4:12 pm on 28 March 2019.

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Photo of Louise Haigh Louise Haigh Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Policing) 4:12, 28 March 2019

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There can be no pretence to localism when the Government are riding roughshod over the voices and rights of local authorities and local people, not least because of the documented seismicity risks. Since October last year the Preston New Road operation has triggered three red level tremors and 57 earthquakes, not to mention the risk to aquifers. Denying the local community a meaningful say is utterly anti-democratic and perverse.

It is not too late for the Government to rethink their approach and recognise that the obstacles they find in their way should not just be bulldozed through inappropriate legislation. At a fundamental level, the prospects for an advanced shale gas industry in the UK are completely and utterly flawed.