Resolved –

Council notes:

(1)          The government is proposing, via a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), to allow the exploration phase of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to be allowed under Permitted Development (PD), therefore requiring no planning permission.

(2)          The government is also proposing to bring the production phase of fracking under Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) and for this to be decided centrally by government and the planning inspectorate. This will take decisions away from local councils. If approved, this approach could be extended to include other types of oil and gas exploration, such as acid stimulation, through secondary legislation.

Council believes that local planning authorities should retain democratic control of all local mineral and fossil fuel development.

?Council therefore requests the Chief Executive to (a) respond to the government consultation before the deadline of 25^th October 2018, to (b) reject the changes proposed for PD and NSIP as inappropriate and (c) make it clear that our view is that local planning authorities should retain local control and primacy for all planning decisions at all stages for all types of oil and gas exploration.

ACTION:        Chief Executive/Strategic Director Place