Fracking: Crackpot views driving renewed interest, MP says

Ince Marshes had been earmarked as the site of Cheshire's first shale gas exploration site

"Crackpot views", the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine are the driving factors behind a renewed interest in fracking, an MP has claimed.

Labour's Chris Matheson said he was worried plans for the practice could be revived near his Chester constituency.

A government review is reassessing fracking, which was halted in the UK in 2019 amid opposition from campaigners.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said any government policy would be "guided by the science".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said previous attempts to investigate the extraction of shale gas using the practice provoked fierce opposition across Cheshire.

Cheshire West and Chester Council's planning committee overwhelmingly rejected Island Gas's plan to test a shale gas well at Portside North on the outskirts of Ellesmere Port in 2018.

The company's appeal led to a lengthy public inquiry in 2019 and the inspector's subsequent report, which was passed to the Secretary of State, is still to be released.

'Back on the table'

Mr Matheson said he had real concerns that the country's energy crisis could lead to a case for fracking in Cheshire being renewed, as some right-leaning groups were "trying to move away from environmentalism and sustainability".

"On the right, there's this opposition to net zero [with] people saying it's not achievable and that'll be economically damaging [while] on the fringes are the climate change deniers," he said.

"We cannot allow the right's crackpot views to prevail."

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He added that the war in Ukraine and the resulting rising gas prices meant "the government has seen the opportunity to put it back on the table".

In a statement, Mr Kwarteng, said the government "have always been, and always will be, guided by the science on shale gas".

"Unless the latest scientific evidence demonstrates that shale gas extraction is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working nearby, the pause in England will remain in place," he added.

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