Draft Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2015

Debate between Lord Herbert of South Downs and Andrea Leadsom

Tuesday 27th October 2015 General Committees

[Andrea Leadsom]

I cannot give way again, because many Members wish to speak.

Turning briefly to surface level protections, our existing regulatory and planning regimes already offer strong protections to sensitive areas. In addition, the Government have separately committed to ensure that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of national parks and other protected areas. Members can be reassured that that remains the Government’s position. We are considering how best to implement that surface restriction, but the draft regulations before us today are not a suitable vehicle, because they flows from the Infrastructure Act’s requirement to specify the protected areas within which subsurface hydraulic fracturing cannot take place. Consideration of surface activity therefore is not within the scope of the regulations.

[Nick Herbert (Arundel and South Downs) (Con)]

The Minister has just said something important that will be reassuring to our constituents. Given that the draft regulations deal with below-the-surface activity and not with surface activity, the assumption has been that drilling at the surface in protected areas would be allowed. Will my hon. Friend make it absolutely clear that it remains the Government’s intention not to allow drilling at the surface in protected areas, including national parks, and that a policy instrument will be put forward to enable that?

[Andrea Leadsom]

Yes, I can give my right hon. Friend that reassurance. The Government’s intention is to announce soon the areas in which it will not be possible for drilling to take place at the surface, and that will include all of our most valuable areas. At the moment we are defining the scope and precisely how the arrangements will work. I hope that totally reassures him and other hon. Members.

The Government recognise that some concerns have been expressed about fracking being carried out from wells drilled at the surface of some of the UK’s most valuable areas; in particular a number of groups have voiced concern about sites of special scientific interest. The national planning policy framework already makes it clear that a development should not normally be permitted if, either individually or in combination with other developments, it is likely to have an adverse effect on special interest features of an SSSI. That applies even if the development itself is outside the boundary of the SSSI.

In addition, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended, consenting authorities have a duty to conserve and enhance the features of sites of special scientific interest; that duty must be incorporated in their decision making. We have considered carefully how we can protect SSSIs and are confident that the existing planning and regulatory regime already accords them strong protections.

I stress that even when the draft regulations and the surface restrictions are in place, a company looking to develop shale will always need to obtain all the necessary permissions, including planning and environmental permits, before hydraulic fracturing can be carried out.