Fracking in East Sussex

The request was successful.

Dear East Sussex County Council,

Can you tell me what is East Sussex County Council's policy on making decisions on any planning applications for permission to carry out fracking.

Would the Council support the carrying out of fracking in East Sussex, or would the Council be against it?

Please can you list any sites that have been reviewed as suitable for fracking in the county.

Please can you list any applications that have been submitted for fracking in the county.

Please can you clarify whether or not an application to frack the land between Boyne Road and Barley lane in Hastings has been submitted.

Please can you list any council reports on the subject of fracking within the county.

Please indicate the dates and subjects of any meetings that East Sussex County Council hosted or attended on the subject of fracking.

Yours faithfully,
Richard Price
Journalist.

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

Dear Mr Price

 

EIR Request ref:  4851 / Fracking in East Sussex

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above. Your request
was received on 28/11/2014 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

We always aim to respond as quickly as possible, and in this case will do
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Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Jeremy Coleman

Customer Information Officer

East Sussex County Council

Communities Economy and Transport Directorate

W1D, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913

email: [1][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [2]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

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Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

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Dear Mr Price

 

EIR Request ref:  4851 / Fracking in East Sussex

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above, which has been
dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your
request and our response are set out below. Please note that any
information we provide is subject to the copyright and reuse of
information terms and conditions set out at the bottom of this email.

 

REQUEST

 

Can you tell me what is East Sussex County Council's policy on making
decisions on any planning applications for permission to carry out
fracking.

 

Would the Council support the carrying out of fracking in East Sussex, or
would the Council be against it?

 

Please can you list any sites that have been reviewed as suitable for
fracking in the county.

 

Please can you list any applications that have been submitted for fracking
in the county.

 

Please can you clarify whether or not an application to frack the land
between Boyne Road and Barley lane in Hastings has been submitted.

 

Please can you list any council reports on the subject of fracking within
the county.

 

Please indicate the dates and subjects of any meetings that East Sussex
County Council hosted or attended on the subject of fracking.

 

RESPONSE

 

Can you tell me what is East Sussex County Council's policy on making
decisions on any planning applications for permission to carry out
fracking.

 

There is no County Council  land use policy specifically related to
Fracking. The Adopted Waste & Minerals Plan (2013) contains a policy on
Oil and Gas. Policy WMP16 refers to supporting proposals for exploration
for oil and gas where it can be demonstrated that there is no less
sensitive location that could be utilised and that there is no
unacceptable adverse impact on the environment or local amenity.

 

Would the Council support the carrying out of fracking in East Sussex, or
would the Council be against it?

 

East Sussex County Council has responsibility for determining planning
applications for oil and gas exploration within the planning authority
area. The County Council is under a legal obligation to consider each
application on its merits taking into account material planning
considerations. The County Council could not apply a blanket ban on
Fracking as this would seek to fetter future decisions.

 

Please can you list any sites that have been reviewed as suitable for
fracking in the county.

 

The County Council has not reviewed any sites in relation to Fracking.
Licences are the responsibility of the Department of Energy and Climate
Change and the County Council has no role in the issue of a licence. Oil
Exploration Licences currently exist for only 1.2% of the County. The
Government has requested bids for a new Licensing Round which includes the
rest of the County. No announcement has yet been made by Government on
this.

 

Please can you list any applications that have been submitted for fracking
in the county.

 

None.

 

Please can you clarify whether or not an application to frack the land
between Boyne Road and Barley lane in Hastings has been submitted.

 

There has been no application to frack the land between Boyne Road and
Barley lane in Hastings.

 

Please can you list any council reports on the subject of fracking within
the county.

 

The Lead Member for Transport and Environment considered a petition to ban
Fracking on 13 October 2014. Copy of Report enclosed.

 

Please indicate the dates and subjects of any meetings that East Sussex
County Council hosted or attended on the subject of fracking.

 

The Economy Transport and Environment Scrutiny Committee had Presentations
on Shale Gas and Oil Exploration Impacts on 19 November 2014. Copy of
Report enclosed.

 

 

I hope that this answers your enquiry. If you believe that the County
Council has not complied with the FOI Act in responding to your request,
you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to do so, please set out
the grounds of your appeal in writing to:

 

Philip Baker, Assistant Chief Executive, East Sussex County Council,
County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex. BN7 1UE.

or by email to him at [1][email address]

 

Please quote the FOI reference number in any communication regarding this
particular request.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you then
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision
unless you have exhausted the County Council’s internal review procedure
as described in the previous paragraph. The Commissioner can be contacted
at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: 0303 123 1113.  [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Amilia Holland

Customer Information Adviser

 

East Sussex County Council

Communities, Economy and Transport

W1D, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [3][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [4]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

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This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

References

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mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[East Sussex County Council request email]
4. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi