'Fuel security v the landscape' poser raised in gas drilling talk

By Chinwe Akomah
The application to drill for gas on greenbelt land close to Biddulph Moor has met an official objection from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, which claimed that the landscape would be spoiled. Three district councillors have also officially opposed the gas exploration borehole plan at Three Nooks Farm at Lask Edge in Horton. The objections will be considered by Staffordshire County Council, which will make the final decision on the Welsh-based company Seven Star Natural Gas's bid. District council planning officer Steve Williams stated in his report to the county council that the application should be refused unless the development caused "less visual harm to the landscape setting" than a previous application dismissed by a planning inspectorate 10 years ago.
But he added that the noise levels were not a significant problem. Biddulph Moor Ward's Coun John Jones expressed concern over the environmental impact and Brown Edge and Endon Ward councillor Linda Lea said the amount of disturbance from construction, waste collection and works vehicles had not been fully evaluated.
She added that traffic routes needed to be assessed to ensure the minimal impact on the more outlying residents in Brown Edge. Coun Norma Hawkins, of Horton Ward, said she recognised that the development would be in an open elevated position where environmental impact considerations would have to be weighed against the applicant's argument of national fuel security benefits. She added that visual impact, noise mitigation and land/water network pollution needed to be taken into consideration and site restoration measures put into place if the development of phase one was to be approved. If the gas drilling plan is approved it will mean villages would be exposed to 18 days of drilling during the day and 21 days of groundwork including preparing and restoring the site. A 23m high rig and a 9m flare stack, which would blaze for 21 days, would be visible from Top Road in Biddulph Moor and electric cables would run along the road from the generators to the existing electrical cables on the 1/2-hectare site. The predicted day time noise level at the farm would be 44 decibels - the same level as rainfall - and the highest level of noise three metres from the rig would be 85dB, equivalent to busy traffic noise.
If the gas drilling plan is approved, the company would apply for permission to install a generation plant in a converted barn house and use the gas produced "as a clean energy source". The first drilling application at Three Nooks Farm was in 1982, for oil, but the scheme turned out to be unviable. Testing was abandoned in 1983 and the site was restored. Another application to re-drill the well for natural gas with on-site generators was refused in 1997 because it would spoil the look of the special landscape area and greenbelt and create too much noise.
In 1999, permission to install a gas processing facility and pipeline to a generation site in Knypersley was refused and an appeal from the applicants was dismissed by a planning inspector in 2000 because of noise and harm to the environment.

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