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THE government’s support for fast-tracking fracking is being opposed by the vast majority of its own Tory councillors, a new poll suggests.
Energy extraction firms are targeting rural areas in Tory heartlands for the destructive process, which involves drilling into shale layers beneath the earth’s surface and pulverising them with a toxic mixture of chemicals, sand and water to release gas.
The government has announced plans to allow firms to carry out exploratory drilling without planning permission from local authorities.
A Survation poll of more than 500 Tory councillors for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and Friends of the Earth found 80 per cent of them opposed the move.
Daniel Carey-Dawes of CPRE said: “It is clear that the government does not have the backing of its own local councillors for its proposals to fast-track fracking.”
He said the plans “diminish local communities’ democratic powers” and Tory councillors recognise this.
