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Government going ‘all out’ for fracking as Underground Trespass Law is overhauled

28 April 2014

Last updated at 11:00

TheUKGovernment are planning an overhaul of current trespass legislation which could lead to the controversial process of fracking becoming widespread across our landscape.

As it stands, landowners have to consent to their land being used as a site for the mining of shale gas but new rules being draw up will make it legal for fracking firms to drill horizontally under private land to access stores of gas which scientists say could supply the UK for up to 40 years. If the reform goes through it will see an extension of the existing rights of water, gas and coal mining firms as set out in the Coal Act 1998, to mine under people’s land without their permission. It will also apply to the construction of geothermal wells which are designed to gather heat from deep underground.

Speaking on Radio 4’s The Today Programme, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey explained. “We are looking at the what are called access rights, not just for shale gas fracking but also for geothermal, because if you are going deep down in the ground, these are very deep depths, a mile underground in some cases, and you’re then going horizontally under a number of landowners’ land.

“The question for both geothermal and shale gas is what is the way to make sure those landowners are compensated and those projects can go ahead?”

It would appear from the extensive protests against the process however, that compensation is not of major concern to landowners. Marcus Adams a landowner close to a potential fracking site in the Sussex Downs National Park said "People right across the country have legitimate concerns about the impact of fracking on their communities - from water contamination to air and noise pollution from heavy lorry traffic - but all this happening in a national park just doesn't bear thinking about."¹

It is evident that the Government is 100% behind fracking and David Cameron has already stated that he’s going ‘all out for shale’ but critics say that the process could have a catastrophic effect on our environment, causing pollution of our water supply and damaging the stability of the land, leading to earthquakes.

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