Guidance From Welsh Government Needed on Shale Gas
Wales needs better guidelines for test drilling and fracking, council leader of Glamorgan Vale Gordon Kemp has said. Speaking to BBC Wales, Mr. Kemp said there wasn't enough information available from the Welsh government on how to deal with cases regarding test drilling applications.
On Thursday evening, Glamorgan council voted unanimously to deny an application from Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd., working with Eden Energy, to test drill on Llandow Industrial Estate in South Wales.
"The difficulty is we have no proper guidance from the assembly on this. The assembly has mineral policies but I don't think they cover a situation such as this.
"This is why I have been calling both the assembly to determine matters such as this and also come up with some guidance."
Yesterday, Councillor Paul Church noted that Mr. Kemp had written to the Welsh First Minister for advice on the matter but had not received a satisfactory answer.
"The Welsh Government has fudged its role," he said.
“This council’s leader, Gordon Kemp, wrote to the First Minister asking him to call in this application. He was rebuffed. The Welsh Government should take responsibility for this big issue.”
Mr. Kemp confirmed today to BBC reporters that he had in fact written to the First Minister, and said that the issue deserved more attention from the Welsh government.
"This is not the best way of getting [the matter] considered by the assembly," he said. "It's an ad hoc thing as it were. It will be based on an appeal. I'd have preferred them to have made a decision themselves from day on on it."
The Welsh government has previously faced criticism from the council for its approach to shale gas regulation and legislation. In June of this year, when Mr. Kemp wrote to the Minister for guidance, pointing out that the issue had the potential to be massive.
"I think, personally, the Welsh Government should look to deal with it themselves rather than leaving it in the hands of local government," he said at the time. "That is not abdicating responsibility, but this is potentially going to affect large parts of South Wales."
A spokesperson for the Welsh government said at the time that the government would consider the issues surrounding shale gas in Wales.
"We would welcome the UK Government working with devolved administrations across the UK to put in place a robust and evidence based policy framework for Shale Gas in the UK," the spokesperson said.
Further Reading: Welsh Councillors Deny Shale Gas Drilling Application
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