The Government is set to face further opposition to plans to allow fracking companies to drill under people’s homes, according to a major new YouGov survey commissioned by Greenpeace UK .

The poll reveals three quarters (74%) of British people are against the move, which could see energy companies drilling for gas under their homes or land without the need to first obtain permission.

Nearly three quarters of Tory (73%) and Lib Dem (70%) potential voters hold the view that energy companies should have to get permission from owners or residents before drilling, with  only 13% of respondents saying that energy firms should not be required to have this consent.

The results are published on the day a broad range of environmental groups and a leading homeowner organisation have written to David Cameron urging him to drop plans to weaken people’s property rights in order to clear the way for fracking. Ministers are planning to include the policy in the new Infrastructure Bill, due to be announced in the Queen’s Speech. 

In a letter addressed directly to the Prime Minister, the heads of the Homeowners Alliance, RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Angling Trust, and the Salmon and Trout Association, argue that people’s right to say no to under-house drilling is ‘appropriate and should be retained given the associated major risks and lack of a precautionary approach by the government’.

They also warn the Prime Minister that ‘the rush to change property rights will further erode public trust in the government’s approach to fracking’’ and brand the move ‘an unacceptable prioritisation of the commercial interests of the few over the rights of land and property owners’.

Under current laws, if an energy company wants to drill or frack for gas which is found under somebody’s home or land, they need the person’s consent, or must obtain special permission from a judge, otherwise they can be held liable for trespass [2].

A group of Sussex residents have already formally denied permission for drilling under their properties, forming a ‘legal blockade’ around a potential fracking site near the village of Fernhust in the South Downs National Park.

Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said:

“Having failed to reassure the country that fracking is safe, ministers now want to render people powerless to oppose it. There’s nothing fair or just about this underhand ploy to strip people of their legal right to say no to fracking under their homes. “

“This survey reveals just how toxic this policy is for the Conservative Party. The same ministers who like to pose as champions of local communities against big government are now happy to trample over their property rights at the request of the fracking industry. Tory MPs will struggle to justify this brazen double standard to their constituents.”