News & insights

The announcement that the Government is planning a change in the law comes after a report on shale gas gound that two-thirds of land in England could be made available for fracking companies to license.

Planning Minister Nick Boles has told MPs in a written statement “The associated underground extraction takes place very deep below the Earth's surface, over a wide geographical area. As a result, it is often not possible to identify the exact route of any lateral drilling.

"Without the changes to the secondary legislation, the widely drawn area on planning applications for onshore oil and gas projects would require the notification of a disproportionately large number of individuals and businesses. This would be unnecessarily excessive when other forms of complimentary notification exist."

If a change in the law is passed gas companies will not be required to inform each household and business individually but will instead have to publish notices in a local newspaper and place site displays in parishes.

Anti-fracking MPs and campaigners said the announcement was a blow to all communities likely to be affected and that ministers should be strengthening rules to protect local people, not weakening them.

Coincidentally a Government commissioned study by environmental and engineering consultancy Amec has warned that fracking sites could cause significant disruption to local communities with each site requiring up to 51 lorry journeys a day, for a period of up to 145 weeks (or nearly three years) mainly carrying materials to the wells and polluted waste water away for treatment.

Given the potential high impact of operations associated with energy exploration and production, purchasing a Landmark Energy & Infrastructure (HS2) Report, or a GroundSure Energy Report, will enable you to meet your client care requirement and is a valuable addition to your due diligence obligations.