Preston New Road Action Group reacted with disappointment today (12th of April) as Mr Justice Dove has ruled in favour of the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid MP, following a Manchester High Court hearing.
The group challenged the lawfulness of Sajid Javid’s overruling of Lancashire County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to frack at the Preston New Road site to the fossil fuels company Cuadrilla. The group sought to have Sajid Javid’s determination declared unlawful, weighing on five points of law having being breached.
The group have expressed dismay at the precedent being set for other communities facing the unconventional gas industry.
Pat Davies, Chair of Preston New Road Action Group said:
“The ramifications of allowing an unwanted industry to proceed, against the express wishes of the democratically-elected local planning committee and local community’s wishes, are immense.
“Residents are suffering ill health and overwhelming anxiety about their future, with concerns for the the environment they and future generations live in. The Fylde Coast will become the guinea pig for this dirty industry and no longer be a safe or desirable place to live, work or retire to.
“For residents to have no say in shaping the community they live in, is also against the overarching commitment outlined as a key aim within the government’s own National Planning Policy Framework.
“This contradictory approach smacks of muddled thinking at best, or autocracy at worst. If a planning process can be controlled by external corporate interests and the government policy of the moment, it is neither fit for purpose and begs the question whether local democracy now plays any valid part in the planning process.”
