Draft Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2015

Lord Benyon Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2015 General Committees

[Dr Whitehead]

As I was saying, there is no clarity in the SI, as I have emphasised, concerning what any reasonable person would regard as the rest of the fracking process: that is, the establishment of the fracking pad, the vehicle movements, the drilling itself and the treatment of waste water on the site.

[Richard Benyon (Newbury) (Con)]

I have come along to try to get to the bottom of this, so I am listening closely to the debate. The hon. Gentleman seems to suppose that every fracking operation happens vertically. Surely the lateral drilling that he mentioned earlier must be the reason for the fact that activity might take place on the surface outside a protected area, but reach deep underground inside a protected area. I hope that he will clarify that point.

[Dr Whitehead]

The hon. Gentleman may consider that the reason for the 1,200 metre protection; like me, he does not know. It may be that one could consider a process—the Minister may enlighten us in the fullness of time about how that process might work, when she comes up with a list of protected areas, as she has said she might—in which a drilling rig could be set up on the boundary of a national park, then drill diagonally for a number of miles and then go further around to reach whatever it is thought might be reached at 1,200 metres below the national park. I would consider that fairly unlikely, particularly in large protected areas, because the drilling process would have to be extensive even to get there. However, like the hon. Gentleman, I am in the dark about whether that is the reason, because it is not stated in the SI, and indeed was not stated in the main legislation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Richard Benyon]

You will be glad to know, Mr Hanson, that my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs made most of my points, so I will be brief. I came into the room thinking that I would be giving my hon. Friend the Minister a rather harder time than I actually am, because she made a very important point in her introductory remarks that I hope she will repeat in her conclusion.

I am here because most of my constituency is an AONB. I live in it. I used to have a job in government that was involved with looking after designated landscapes. I think that it is important to state where one comes from in this argument. I do not come from a position of believing that exploiting new hydrocarbons is wrong. I was in DEFRA during the early stages, when we were talking with the Environment Agency about how we would regulate this activity, and I was impressed by its determination that we should be a world leader through the environmental protections that we imposed. I therefore think that the Government are right to be feeling their way, and the regulations reflect that.

I am concerned about the designated landscapes and the special areas of concern. First, on SSSIs, we are talking really about the 15% of them that are not in national parks or AONBs. Those have layer upon layer of protections about what people are and are not allowed to do. The hon. Member for Southampton, Test talked about collecting ponds, roads and pipework going in, but they would not be allowed in SSSIs, so I am reassured on that point. He also made a point about the depth under national parks and AONBs. Frankly, there has to be some gradation of concern; otherwise it could be said that any activity right down to—I am being absurd here—the Earth’s core underneath an AONB would be permitted under some future technology. That was probably the weakest point that he made.

However, I hope that the Minister, in her closing remarks, will ensure that the designated landscape community, if I can call them that—the national parks, the AONBs and the people who feel passionately about those landscapes—are given further reassurance that we are talking about an activity that will come in from outside those areas, that it will be below a very deep depth indeed and that there will be endless measures, through the Environment Agency and others, to ensure that protection is given. Then I will be satisfied with the points that she has made.