YP Letters: Landowners face long-term impacts of fracking

Anti-fracking demonstrators at Kirby Misperton.

From: Tim Breitmeyer, Deputy President, Country Land and Business Association.

THE Government has not  made sufficient progress  to properly tackle the long-term liability of fracking, a situation which will leave landowners at risk long after drilling has stopped.

Our members take a long-term view of land management and will continue to run businesses using land with shale gas developments on them long after an operator has left a site.

It is critical that the right protections are in place to ensure the long-term integrity of well sites and remove any risk to future use of affected land.

It is greatly concerning that despite the acknowledged risk, the Government continues to encourage the industry to increase the number of sites in development without an adequate solution to liabilities being in place.

For a government whose stated objective is to establish a world leading shale gas industry in the UK, the lack of clarity  on these important issues is  a major failing.