Issue - meetings

This report asks the Executive Member to note the above consultation and to endorse a proposed response for submission to the relevant government departments prior to the deadline of 7 January 2019.

Note:  As this item has been on the Forward Plan for less than 28 days before the meeting, it has been included on the agenda under the council’s urgency procedures.  The reason for the urgency is the need to meet the government consultation deadline, for which the next scheduled Decision Session would be too late.

Resolved:  (i)      That the government consultation on compulsory community pre-application consultation for shale gas development be noted.

                   (ii)      That Option 1 be approved and the views set out in the ‘Suggested Authority Response’, including the appendix, which align with the council’s submitted Joint Waste and Minerals Plan sections of the report, be endorsed and submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as relevant.

Reason:     To allow officers to respond to the consultation prior to the deadline of 7 January 2018.

The Executive Member considered a report which presented a proposed response to the third consultation on the government’s Written Ministerial Statement on Energy Policy (WMS2018) relating to shale gas exploration.  Responses to the two previous consultations, as approved at the Decision Session on 22 October, were attached as Annex A to the report.

This item had been added to the agenda under the council’s urgency procedures, as a ‘non-key’ decision that had been on the Forward Plan for less than 28 days before the Decision Session.  The reason for the urgency was the need to respond to the consultation before the deadline of 7 January 2019.

The consultation had been published on 31 October 2018 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It sought views on whether applicants should be required to conduct pre-application consultation with the local community before submitting a planning application for shale gas development and, if so, what process this should follow. 

Suggested responses to the four questions in the consultation were set out in paragraph 24 of the report.  These reflected officers’ views that community pre-application consultation should be compulsory and should follow a similar process to that required in applications for onshore wind development.  The Executive Member was invited to endorse these responses for submission (Option 1), seek amendments prior to submission (Option 2) or reject the responses and request further work (Option 3). 

Having noted the comments made under Public Participation, the Executive Member

Resolved:  (i)      That the government consultation on compulsory community pre-application consultation for shale gas development be noted.

                   (ii)      That Option 1 be approved and the views set out in the ‘Suggested Authority Response’, including Annex A, which align with the council’s submitted Joint Waste and Minerals Plan sections of the report, be endorsed and submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as relevant.

Reason:     To allow officers to respond to the consultation prior to the deadline of 7 January 2018, and to put the responses in the context of previous consultations so as not to imply any endorsement of fracking by the council.