UK shale setback

Lancashire County Council rejected both applications from Cuadrilla to produce gas from shale deposits deep underground in northwest England, despite receiving advice from its planning division to approve one of them

This extends the uninterrupted run of bad news that has surrounded UK shale prospects ever since Cuadrilla detected very minor tremors while carrying out hydraulic fracturing some years ago and reported them to the government. Companies who have made UK shale part of their strategy saw their share price wobble. But the problem the council seized on was not the expected risk to the environment caused by fracking but the additional traffic noise and eyesores in the countryside that the operation would entail. Nevertheless the margin of defeat was substantial and cross-party: nine against, three for and two abstentions. Responding on June 29, Cuadrilla said the council’s planning officers had “