Agenda and minutes

None received.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

County Councillor P Buckley declared a non pecuniary interest in agenda item 5 as his wife is a member of the Borough Council for the area concerned.

County Councillor T Aldridge declared a non pecuniary interest in agenda item 4 as a member of West Lancashire District Council.

County Councillor P Hayhurst declared a non pecuniary interest in agenda items 5 as a member of Fylde Borough Council and as the county councillor for Fylde West.  Councillor Hayhurst also declared a non pecuniary interest in agenda items 4 and 5 as a member of Elswick Parish Council and Elswick Community Project both of which had received grants from the applicant.

County Councillor M Barron declared a non pecuniary interest in agenda item 4 as a member of the West Lancashire District Council, Tarleton Parish Council and the local county councillor for the area concerned.

The committee are asked to agree that the Minutes of the last meeting held on 3 September 2014 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2014 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

A report was presented on an application for the retention of the site compound and access track for a further 3 years to allow pressure monitoring of the Hodder Mudstone and Bowland Shale rock formations, followed by plugging and abandonment of the existing exploratory well and site restoration atBecconsall Shale Gas Exploration Site, Banks Enclosed Marsh, Bonny Barn Road, Hundred End, Banks.

The report included the views of West Lancashire Borough Council, Sefton Council, North Meols Parish Council, the County Council's Developer Support (Highways), the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the county council's Specialist Advisor (Ecology) and details of 244 letters of representation received.

Stuart Perigo, Head of Development Management, presented a PowerPoint presentation showing an aerial view of the site, a site layout plan, a map of the proposed ecological mitigation areas and photographs of the site from various viewpoints including a photograph of the well head and views across the Ribble Estuary.

The committee visited the site on the 19 September 2014.

It was reported orally that following the publication of the agenda papers, further representations had been received objecting to the application.  In addition, on Monday 22^nd September 2014 the committee received presentations from four members of Ribble Estuary Against Fracking (REAF) and the applicant. Details of the further representations, presentations and the officer's advice in relation to both were set out in the update sheet (copy attached at Annex A to the Minute Book).

It was also reported that it was proposed to make a minor amendment to the 'Recommendation' in the report as follows:

'That subject to the applicant first providing a Unilateral Undertaking under section 106 of the TCPA 1990 in respect of the off-site ecological mitigation measures……..'

The committee was asked to note that contrary to the information reported on page 13 of the report, there was one well on the site and not two as specified.

A representative of Friends of the Earth, a West Lancashire Borough Councillor and two residents addressed the committee. They objected to the proposal for the following summarised reasons:

·  There was a danger that polluted surface water from the site may be discharged via the pumping station into the Ribble and Alt estuaries Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site.

·  The application posed an unacceptable threat to wildlife and the bird population.

·  There were well integrity issues at the applicant's other site at Preese

Hall. This showed the applicant was not capable of managing the site. 

·  The application conflicted with the County Council's own policies on climate change and renewable energy.

·  Reducing the cost of gas in the UK should not be taken into account and was not a material planning consideration.

·  The north of England should not be used as a trial area for outdated carbon fuel extraction.

·  A further testing appraisal clearly demonstrated the intention to extract shale gas. Therefore a full Habitat Regulation Assessment should be undertaken and the application should be subject to an Environmental Impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

A report was presented on an application for the variation of Condition 1 of planning permission 05/11/0431 to extend the period of time for the restoration of the site to 30 April 2015 at Preese Hall Exploration Site, Preese Hall Farm, Weeton, Kirkham, Preston.

The report included the views of the County Council's Developer Support (Highways), the Environment Agency, The Health and Safety Executive and details of thirteen letters of representation received including one from Ribble Estuary Against Fracking (REAF).

Stuart Perigo, Head of Development Management, presented a PowerPoint presentation showing an aerial view of the site, site layout plans and photographs of the site, the well head assembly and the water collection facilities.

It was reported orally that following the publication of the agenda three further representations had been received objecting to the proposal. A summary of the objections over and above those summarised in the report together with officers advice in relation to such were set out in the 'Update Sheet' (copy attached at Annex A to the Minute Book).

A representative of Friends of the Earth, two residents and a representative of REAF addressed the committee. They objected to the proposal for the following summarised reasons:

• There were issues associated with the well that needed to be investigated before the site was restored.
• There should be a Public Inquiry into the cause of the seismic events in 2011.
• The proposals may create a number of well paid jobs but at what cost – children were more important.
• Proposed tax incentives for shale gas companies could put off-shore gas operations at risk.
• Off shore gas could be used to bridge the gap whilst cleaner energy alternatives to shale gas were explored.
• The proposal was contrary to the NPPF technical guidance that required mineral sites to be restored to high environmental standards at the earliest opportunity.
• A further time extension should be refused and enforcement action taken to restore the site.
• Concern was raised as to why neither the applicant nor the regulating bodies had put information into the public domain to explain the problems that had been encountered at the site, the risks involved and how they had been resolved.
• There was a lack of information as to why a further time extension was required.
• It was alleged the applicant had been carrying out further flow testing instead of progressing with the restoration of the site.

The committee was asked to make the protection of public health and safety a major concern and to support the request from Fylde Borough Council for an extension of the monitoring period. 

A representative of the applicant addressed the committee and spoke in support of the application. It was explained that the process of restoring the site had to be done slowly and carefully and that the company was in the final stage of abandonment. Subject to favourable weather conditions, it was anticipated that the plugging of the well should be completed well within the proposed time extension following which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of urgent business.

The next meeting of the Development Control Committee will be held on Wednesday 15 October  2014 at 10.00 a.m. in Cabinet Room B - the Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

Resolved: The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday 15 October 2014.