Woodland Trust raises potential impact of fracking on anicent woodland
Woodland Trust Chief Executive cites the concerns the Trust has about fracking especially to ensure that ancient woodlands are protected
Beccy Speight, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust said:
“The potential significant impact on ancient woodland caused by drilling and exploratory test wells for fracking, along with the associated infrastructure that may be needed to access and transport shale gas and oil, are of great concern.
“The Infrastructure Act states that fracking will not take place within ‘protected areas’. However, these areas will not automatically include ancient woodland. As the Government prepares secondary legislation to define these areas, we are calling for ancient woodland to be explicitly included. With more than 600 ancient woods currently threatened by planning applications, more than the Woodland Trust has ever seen in its 40 year history, it’s clear that existing planning legislation is just not sufficient to protect this irreplaceable habitat. It’s therefore vital Government ensures energy companies will not be allowed to base their fracking operations in or adjacent to ancient woodland by explicitly naming it within the ‘protected areas’ definition.
