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The leader of Rotherham Council says the lifting of a ban on fracking is a “deeply worrying situation” for residents living near two potential shale gas sites.

In 2018, Rotherham council’s planning board refused permission to drill a test hole in Woodsetts and a public inquiry was held in 2019 after an appeal to the national planning inspectorate.

Residents near potential fracking site in Rotherham “dismayed” at decision to ov...

Consent was granted for a similar scheme in Harthill in 2018 following a public Inquiry.

In 2018, Rotherham council's planning board refused permission to drill a test hole in Woodsetts and a public inquiry was held in 2019 after an appeal to the national planning inspectorate.

However, in 2019 the government introduced a moratorium on fracking for shale gas.

New Prime Minisetr Liz Truss announced she will throw out the 2019 ban on fracking, in a bid to solve the energy crisis in the House of Commons today.

Speaking in the House of Commons Today, ms Truss unveiled a package of measures to support residents who are facing crippling energy bills this winter.

Energy bills will capped at £2,500 a year for the next two years, and the deployment of renewable energy sources such as hydrogen and solar power will be “sped up”.

She also told the Commons that the government will “end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale, which could get gas flowing as soon as six months, where there is local support for it”

Councillor Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council told the local democracy reporting service: “Residents in Harthill and Woodsetts will be deeply alarmed that in one of her first acts the Prime Minister has lifted the protection they had to prevent fracking on their doorsteps.

“For far too long they lived with this threat hanging over them, so that she seems to have returned it now is completely unconscionable.

“The government seems to be hiding behind weasel words about the need for local support – so they should be in no doubt that there is no local support for fracking in our area.

“The irony will not be lost that within miles of the sites threatened by fracking in our borough, supported by the Prime Minister, there is the potential for a significant development of clean solar power, which she seems to be against.

“It is a deeply worrying situation for our residents and the environment alike.”

Lifting of fracking ban is “deeply worrying” for Harthill and Woodsetts residents says Rotherham Council leader