Planning process hindering UK shale growth

The UK’s complex procedure governing planning permission for shale-gas exploration is stalling the sector’s development, industry leaders warned

At a shale gas debate in London, hosted by Petroleum Economist in association with Lloyds Register Energy, industry experts said the UK risked losing out on developing a US-style shale-gas sector if the spate of recent refusals continued. “Part of the problem is that councils don’t have development plans which are up to date and that deal with shale,” Catherine Howard, a senior associate at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, told delegates to the event, An Unconventional Future: What the UK can learn from North America’s Shale Gas Revolution. “It takes councils a long time to update their development plans, and even if existing plans do mention minerals, they certainly won’t be talking about