Graham, Tom and Ian

Your Lib Dem team for Cheadle West & Gatley Learn more

Lib Dems oppose planning overrule for fracking

by Lib Dem team on 4 February, 2016

In December we voiced our concern about Cheadle’s Conservative MP voting to allow fracking in national parks and the way the Government immediately opened up large parts of Greater Manchester for exploration and potential fracking.

This week we have been receiving a number of campaigning emails concerned about another aspect of fracking – the suggestion that the Government will override local councils and force through planning decisions to allow fracking regardless of the views of local people and elected councillors.

The emails are along the lines of:

I am very concerned about leaked government plans to attack local democracy. It’s been exposed that the government wants to change the law and strip local councils of their right to vote against fracking applications in their area. It’s part of government plans to put rocket boosters under the fracking industry in the UK.

This plan is also an attack on local people’s right to have a say over decisions that will affect them.

Please will you write to Liz Truss, the environment secretary; Amber Rudd, the energy secretary; and Greg Clark, the communities secretary, to call on them not to go ahead with these undemocratic plans?

We are replying to them all, and our response is

Thank you for your email about the proposal to remove local planning from decisions about fracking. I believe strongly that local decision making in planning is essential and where there is likely to be a significant impact on local communities from such decisions even more important.

I share your concerns that the Government’s support for fracking and apparent wish to see a UK-wide industry established, should not be used to override the existing planning system.

I will express these concerns to Liz Truss, Amber Rudd and Greg Clark. Obviously if there are such proposals they would have to be put before Parliament and so the Council has also contacted the MPs who cover the Stockport Borough, the MP for your area is Mary Robinson.

   2 Comments

2 Responses

  1. Alan Gent says:

    It’s obvious that massive interests are vested in the Tory party, which is driving this thinking. I would hope even out “blue” readers would
    Be concerned about this most recent – but not the only – attack on democracy.
    Well done guys, this government MUST be held to account

  2. Robert Cohen says:

    The future is uncertain. At this stage carrying out investigations are, I think on balance, reasonable. However, there are potential risks with fracking. It’s been done almost wholesale in parts of the US, where I have read of some major disasters that have occurred with regard to sink holes etc. Pedsinally, I’m not convinced that this method is safe. The ‘experts’ are not convincing – bit like the global warming ‘experts’, although those who speak out against have mostly been silenced. Therefore, public awareness of fracking is important.

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