This announcement is not about whether we should frack or not. Planning applications can only be successful on objective planning grounds, which focus on factors such as traffic, noise and impact on the environment and local economy so it should not affect the considerations of a planning committee.
However, the decision to move forward with shale gas exploration in the UK was made democratically in Parliament in January 2015 by a majority of over 250 votes. Since my election in May 2015, I have been working tirelessly to make sure that, if fracking does go ahead in the constituency, our water, landscape and existing local economy is protected. I have helped to secure protections for our National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Specific Scientific Interest and independent monitoring of air, water and seismic activity. I would not advocate exchanging these protections for any amount of money. Nevertheless, I have consistently argued that local people and communities affected by noise and traffic movements should be directly compensated and welcome this announcement and consultation. I think people would be concerned that the money would go into a big black hole if it went into Council coffers, so I am against that. I think we should consider, however, a community-based scheme that, for instance, allocates at least some of the money directly to community schemes in the relevant villages or towns in the immediate locality. I will be making my views known on this through the consultation process and would urge anyone in areas where shale gas exploration may take place to take part.
There are actually two different schemes for community benefit, the one in question is from HM Treasury. The 10% of tax revenues that was going into a sovereign wealth fund for the entire region is now subject a consultation and may be changed to a payment directly to those most affected. In addition, the industry has committed to a package for communities that host shale development. This comprises at exploration stage, £100,000 in community benefits per well-site where fracking takes place plus 1% of production revenues. Ineos have said they will pay 6% rather than 1% and we are pressing others to follow suit. This could mean literally hundreds of millions of pounds over a twenty-year period for an area 10km x 10km, which should need no more than 10 well pad sites. You can imagine how many swimming pools, by passes, sports halls and community facilities this could fund for a typical market town. Our All Party Parliamentary Group on Shale Gas Regulation and Planning is holding an evidence session in Parliament on September 7th, members of the public are welcome to attend.
You can find the consultation by following the link below
and the website for the APPG on Shale Gas Regulation & Planning at