Controversial gas drilling bid debate date set

A special meeting of the North Planning Committee will take place next Friday to decide on Dart Energy's plans to drill a temporary coal-bed methane exploratory borehole in Dudleston Heath, near Ellesmere.

Councillors decided to deal with the proposal separately after realising the local concern and interest in the plans.

Chris Hesketh, a spokesman for action group Frack-Free Dudleston, which has been objecting to the project, said it could go either way and urged people to come out and show their support.

"Whenever people ask me I say it's going to be 50-50," he said.

"I would like to say I'm 100 per cent certain that it will be refused but I am a realist and I am approaching this from a logical perspective.

"But I am confident, and I do think we have very good reasons for refusal."

He added: "I think a lot (of applications) were passed when we didn't know so much about the process or the health risks and other things.

"But now we are clear on it all we should be able to confidently refuse."

There were fears that the energy firm wanted to use the site for fracking – the controversial process of blasting high pressured jets of water into underground rock to free gas deposits.

But Dart Energy has since made it clear it has no plans to do this and will only seek coal bed methane deposits.

Mr Hesketh has called on campaigners to attend the meeting.

He said: ""If there are local people there objecting to the plans, it makes the councillors realise that they aren't making the decision anonymously and without effect, there are actually people that it will concern."

The application will be discussed at 2.30 pm at Shirehall in Shrewsbury.