Consultation on Underground Drilling Access - Fracking

National Geographic

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is proposing an amended process for granting access rights:

• to grant underground access rights to companies extracting petroleum or geothermal energy in land at least 300 metres below the surface
• for people living above any underground drilling to receive some kind of payment in return for access. The shale and geo-thermal industries have put forward a voluntary payment system involving a one-off payment of £20,000 for each lateral well. The payment to be made to a relevant community body, not split between landowners.
• for a public notification system under which the company would outline matters such as the area of land, details of the payment made in return for access.

The consultation is here and a simple explanatory guide to Underground Access on the DECC website is here

NALC is obviously keen that parish councils should be designated as the relevant community body to receive the one off payment and that town and parish councils should be consulted (notified)  where underground drilling applications are submitted. The NALC consultation briefing is on this website under NALC briefings, policy consultations.

Responses to be made before 8th August to chris.borg@nalc.gov.uk