Local Greenpeace campaigners delivered ‘frack-free cupcakes’ to Manchester City Council to stand up for local people’s right to decide on fracking developments.
Environmental campaigners are calling on Councillor Loughman, Chair of the Planning and Highways Committee, to write to communities secretary Greg Clark asking him to respect the decisions of local planning authorities on fracking licences.
Last November, the communities secretary announced he would have the final say on controversial plans for fracking in Lancashire whatever the recommendation of a local planning inspector.
Just a few weeks later, a leaked letter from cabinet ministers including Clark to George Osborne revealed government plans to reduce English councils’ powers to reject fracking applications.
Until the recent developments around fracking Greg Clark had been a staunch defender of local democracy, urging councils to be ‘masters of their own destiny’ and ‘take power and resources away from Whitehall’.
Local campaigners are urging the councillor to write to Mr Clark and ask him to explain how his approach to fracking planning applications will be compatible with his commitment to localism and local democracy.
Alice Abernathy, from Ashton, who delivered the cakes, said: “You can have local democracy, or you can having fracking, but you can’t have both. The people of Manchester are about to be given the power to run their own hospitals, schools and social services, but at the same time the government is taking away the power to say no to unwanted, unnecesary and unsafe new fossil fuels. That cannot be right.”
