Planning officers at Lancashire County Council have recommended that consent should be granted for one of the applications by oil and gas company Cuadrilla to explore for shale gas using hydraulic fracturing.

Lancashire County Council has published its recommendations on the applications by oil and gas company Cuadrilla to explore for shale gas at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood, by drilling, hydraulically fracking and testing the flow of gas, and for monitoring their operations.

The reports which contain the officers' recommendations will be considered next week by the county council's Development Control Committee.

Oil and gas companies Cuadrilla Bowland and Cuadrilla Elswick have applied for planning permission to develop two new sites to explore for shale gas by drilling, fracking, and testing the flow of gas. Separate applications have also been received for a series of boreholes to monitor for seismic movement and water quality (there are therefore two applications per site).

The application for Preston New Road has been recommended for approval, subject to a number of conditions controlling time limits, working programme, restriction on permitted development rights, highway matters, soil management, hours of working, safeguarding of water courses, control of noise, dust, lighting, security, ecology, archaeology, landscaping, restoration and aftercare.

The application for Roseacre Wood has been recommended for refusal on the grounds that it would generate an increase in traffic, particularly HGV movements, that would result in an unacceptable impact on the rural highway network and on existing road users, particularly vulnerable road users and a reduction in overall highway safety that would be severe.

In a company statement responding to the news, Cuadrilla said:

 “We are pleased that Lancashire County Council’s Planning Officers have recommended that the Councils’ Development Control Committee grant planning consent for our application at Preston New Road.  In January 2015, Officers recommended refusal at Preston New Road only on grounds of night-time noise and we duly submitted additional information on mitigation measures, which was publicly consulted on, to further bring down noise levels well below limits set out in government guidance.

“We note that, as in January, the Planning Officer’s report is satisfied with all other aspects of the planning applications, in particular with regard to drilling and fracking.  These include Air Quality, Archaeology and cultural heritage, Greenhouse gas emissions, Community & socio-economics, Ecology, Hydrogeology & ground gas, Induced seismicity (including subsidence), Land Use, Landscape and visual amenity, Lighting, Resources and waste, Water resources and Public Health.”

The company expressed its disappointment at the officers’ decision to reject the Roseacre Wood application -  but said it was “pleased to note that as with Preston New Road, they are satisfied with all other aspects of the Roseacre Wood planning applications.”