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20.08.2015
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has announced that:
The licences are likely to result in an uplift in planning applications for fracking. Given the very great public interest these applications generate, this is likely to greatly increase the pressure on local councils to respond quickly to these applications. Furthermore according to the joint announcement from the Department of Energy & Climate Change and Department for Communities and Local Government on 13 August 2015, the Secretary of State will now also consider exercising his call-in power for applications not determined within the 16-week statutory time frame, thereby removing the decision from the local council altogether.
Interestingly, this might not be to the industry's advantage. If an application is called-in, an applicant only has one opportunity to get it right. If the application is refused at the called-in stage, there is no right to a full-merits appeal, as there would be if the application had been determined by the local council.
Dr Ashley Bowes, Barrister at Cornerstone Barristers, who successfully represented a Lancashire residents' group against Cuadrilla's fracking plans in Preston, commented that:
"Whilst this announcement does not grant any rights to frack (that is still subject to detailed planning permission and other permissions) it seems to signal a very strong policy ambition of central government to realise shale gas as a key part of the UK's energy delivery plan. That would appear to be correct when read against the joint statement from DECC and DCLG last week to speed-up the determination of planning applications, via a proactive use of the Secretary of State's call-in powers. With Cuadrilla's Lancashire appeal validated by the Planning Inspectorate this week, it promises to be a crucial year ahead for the shale gas industry."
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