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Campaign group threatens legal action against government over fracking

Talk Fracking, the campaigning group led by Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son Joe Corré, last week issued a pre-action legal letter to James Brokenshire, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (SofS).

The group are challenging the legality of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on the 24 July 2018, the last parliamentary day before the summer recess. On the same day, Energy Minister the Rt Hon Greg Clark MP issued the first permit to Cuadrilla to start fracking at a well in Lancashire based on the revised NPPF. Fracking is expected to start in late August or early September 2018 at the Preston New Road site, between Blackpool and Preston.

On fracking, the revised NPPF said the mineral planning authorities of local councils should put in place policies to “facilitate” the exploration and extraction of onshore oil and gas, including unconventional hydrocarbons like shale gas. They should also recognise their benefits for energy security and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Talk Fracking argued that this section of the revised NPPF, paragraph 209, was unlawful.

The pre-action letter sets out how Mr Brokenshire had “blindly incorporated” this paragraph from what it described as “the outdated and flawed Written Ministerial Statement” issued by the then Energy Secretary, Amber Rudd, in September 2015. The group said Mr Brokenshire had:

  • Failed to carry out a strategic environmental assessment of fracking planning policy
  • Failed to consult fairly
  • Failed to demonstrate the NPPF paragraph was compatible with the UK’s climate change obligations
  • Failed to take account of scientific developments
  • Failed to act consistently

Leigh Day acting for Talk Fracking, has asked The Secretary of State to withdraw paragraph 209 by 21 August 2018. If this does not happen, Talk Fracking will file an application for judicial review before 4 September 2018.

Talk Fracking is advised by Leigh Day, together with David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers, Peter Lockley of 11KBW and Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street Chambers.