Campaigners to find out next week if Shropshire Council would have allowed gas drilling plans

Members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee will confirm what its decision on the application to drill a single coal-bed methane exploratory borehole in Dudleston, near Ellesmere, would have been had the application still been before the council on Tuesday.

The committee had at its meeting in October indicated it was minded to refuse the plans, leading to the council to asking Dart Energy to provide more information about aspects such as potential noise impact, potential impact on private water supplies and potential impact on structural stability of a slurry lagoon.

But Dart Energy has maintained its belief that it had provided enough information for a decision.

In a letter to Shropshire Council on January 8, Dart Energy said the development would be "acceptable in respect of noise and vibration" and any concerns could be dealt with a condition. It also said there were no private water supplies in the near vicinity.

The company lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate last month on the grounds of non-determination by Shropshire Council.

Last week it was announced the appeal would be in written form rather than in public.

Chris Hesketh, member of campaign group Frack Free Dudleston which is opposed to the scheme, said he believes Dart Energy "jumped the gun'" by taking the application to the Planning Inspectorate.

Mr Hesketh said: "There were important questions which needed to be answered to find more information out.

"They refused to work with the council and local people.

"I am pleased that councillors will be discussing the application. I have had conversations with the council helping gather information for the appeal.

"We have a lot of information we are sharing with the council.

"The decision to not hold the appeal in public is inappropriate. I think a public hearing would have been the right decision to treat the local people with respect."

A spokesman for the Planning Inspectorate said: "The appeal has been validated. Target dates for various stages of the process are listed on the case page, but no decision date has yet been set."

A spokesman for Dart Energy, said: "The application was submitted in June 2014.

"It was recommended for approval but we were not given any timetable about when a decision would be made.

"We will now abide by the Planning Inspectorate. We are quite happy with the written response process as this should speed up the process."

The meeting will be held at Shirehall at 2pm.