Inquiry could decide Shropshire gas drill plan
Controversial plans to drill for gas in the county could be determined by an inquiry, it has been revealed.
The government Planning Inspectorate has said if the application to drill a single coal-bed methane exploratory borehole in Dudleston, near Ellesmere, is deemed complex then an inquiry or hearing could be held.
Applicant Dart Energy is now due to hear directly from government planning inspectors whether its plans have been approved after it took the scheme to appeal.
The Planning Inspectorate has said the appeal is still being validated and it is too early to say when it will be heard.
Shropshire Council's north planning committee had minded to refuse the plans at its meeting in October, leading to the council to ask Dart Energy to provide more information about the scheme. But Dart Energy believes it has provided enough information for a final decision to be made.
And in a bid to speed up the process it has lodged an appeal with the Government planning inspector on the grounds of non-determination by Shropshire Council.
A spokesman for the Planning Inspectorate said: "It is too early to say when a decision is going to be made on it. It is still going through the validation process and we are still going through the documentation. If it is determined to be a valid appeal we will consider what process we will go through."
Gordon Grant, a spokesman for Dart Energy, said the company had not yet been given a "timetable" of the appeal process.
Chris Hesketh, member of campaign group Frack Free Dudleston, said he remained optimistic that the application would be turned down despite it going to appeal. In October members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee were unanimously opposed to the plans at a meeting. But a decision wasn't made at the meeting as the authority's planning officers were asked to check the legal ramifications of refusing permission before a final ruling is confirmed.
