Up to £1,000 could be offered to those near sites or order to gain majority support
It has been revealed that residents who live near fracking sites could be offered up to £1,000 if they give their consent to fracking sites being implemented near their property.
This is to counteract expected opposition to the sites and to allow for gas wells to be installed quicker.
The government needs to gain a majority of residents in an area in order to be given “local consent”. This is the test which the government has set out for gas wells to be introduced.
If a majority in an area agree on the fracking sites then all residents in the area would receive the payments, whether they agreed or not.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary, is set to announce the plans this month after being repeatedly questioned and criticised by his own MPs when he failed to specify what he meant when he said the plans would only go ahead with ”local consent”.
Government ministers are also considering offering larger payments living close to fracking sites which could total between 1-6% of total revenues produced from the site.
A senior government source said payments could be key to introducing the proposals, as they said:
“If you are going to have lorries and construction work right by your house then it is very obvious why local people are going to be opposed to that.
But if you can say to them that they are going to be compensated from that disruption and then get regular payment when those wells are productive then that can change people’s perception on whether they will support the project or not.”
Charles McAllister, director at UK Onshore Oil and Gas, claims domestic fracking produces significantly lower carbon emissions than imports of natural gas and can provide better energy security for the UK. He added:
“UK shale gas companies have committed to providing proceeds from operations to local communities at the exploration stage and production stage of development.
Not only can shale gas deliver more energy per acre than most other energy technologies, but we can deliver more money to communities too.
The amount of capital that can be injected into local communities in the north of England from shale gas development could be truly transformational. A continued reliance on imported gas will continue to offer precisely zero in community benefits, as well as tax revenue, business rates and employment opportunities.”
However, residents have expressed significant opposition to the planned payments.
Susan Holliday, who lives next to a planned fracking site in Preston, said:
“If they start fracking again, then no one will want to buy these properties.
A few thousand pounds will be little consolation. But the problem is that in this difficult economic climate, people may feel that they have to take the money. It’s no indication of support though.”
Alan Fairhurst, who also lives in the area, spoke of his memories of the last time fracking was implemented in the area in August 2019, and claims the earthquakes damaged his property by leaving a crack in his barn. He said:
“If they gave us all £1 million then maybe it could incentivise people to drop their opposition, but the sums they are talking about are insignificant.
I don’t have a problem with fracking per se. In the US it works very well because they do it on remote sites. But it simply isn’t feasible here in a densely populated area where people will be affected.”
