UK residents affected by fracking could receive cash payments

A shale wealth fund was unveiled in 2014 to set aside up to 10% of the tax proceeds from fracking to benefit communities in the UK hosting wells.

UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, plans to give tax proceeds to residents affected by ‘fracking operations’ as opposed to local authorities. "The government I lead will be always be driven by the interests of the many, ordinary families for whom life is harder than many people in politics realise," May said.

It is expected the new fund could deliver as much as £10m to each community that has wells sited.

Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shale gas trapped in underground rocks. However,  fracking applications have struggled to find approval from local communities concerned about noise and environmental impacts.

BBC business correspondent, Theo Leggett, said the government had not placed a figure on the amount potentially available to individual households, but said it was understood to be up to £13,000 each in some areas.

This has been labelled as a controversial move by protesters who say it is similar to trying to counter opposition through bribery.

Third Energy has received the first planning consent for ‘fracking operations’ since 2011 and is likely to be tested in North Yorkshire at its Kirby Misperton site.

Anti-fracking groups, Frack Free Ryedale, and Friends of the Earth, are raising funds for a possible legal challenge to the Third Energy ‘fracking’ plan for Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire.

The groups are currently applying for judicial review of North Yorkshire County Council’s decision to allow the fracking project to go ahead.

For more information, help or advice please contact Andrew Davison on 0191 211 7950 or email [email protected].