British shale gas campaign hits wall

PRESTON, England, June 29 (UPI) -- British shale pioneer Cuadrilla Resources suffered a setback with a committee in Lancashire County voting to refuse its application for a fracking campaign.

"This is one of the biggest planning decisions ever put before Lancashire County Council," Marcus Johnstone, cabinet member for environment and planning, said in a statement.

The council voted to refuse a permit to start a hydraulic fracturing campaign in the Preston New Road area of the county. The council said it refused the application because of noise and visual impact concerns.

Furqan Naeem, a campaigner for British advocacy group Friends of the Earth, said the council showed courage amid pressure from Cuadrilla and the British government.

"People in Lancashire and across the U.K. who have been tirelessly campaigning against fracking will breathe a sigh of relief today, safe in the knowledge that this dirty industry that risks health, quality of life and the climate has been stopped in its tracks once again," he said in a statement.

The council last week voted to refuse a permit to Cuadrilla to use hydraulic fracturing in the Roseacre Wood site in the region. The members said the work would have "an unacceptable and potentially severe impact" on road infrastructure and traffic.

The company estimates there may be as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in Lancashire. In a statement, Cuadrilla said it completed the most comprehensive environmental impact assessment of its kind in preparation for the drilling campaign. A "no" vote, it said, is a vote against more jobs and a better economy.

"We are surprised and disappointed that Lancashire County Council's Development Control Committee has denied planning consent for our application to explore for shale gas at Preston New Road," the company said.

The British government in 2012 enacted new restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, ending a moratorium enforced after minor tremors were reported near Lancashire drilling sites. In January, the British Geological Survey announced plans to conduct live monitoring of shale exploration in Lancashire.