Fast-track fracking plan by UK government prompts criticism
by Adam Vaughan from on (#3QEBE)
'Exploratory drilling will be as easy as building a garden wall or conservatory' - Greenpeace
Fracking opponents have reacted with anger after ministers unveiled measures to help projects through the planning system, which campaigners said would make drilling a shale well as easy as building a conservatory.
Shale gas explorers will be able to drill test sites without applying for planning permission and fracking sites could be classed as nationally significant infrastructure, meaning approval would come at a national rather than local level.