The UK government’s Treasury department has formally launched a consultation today on how a ‘Shale Wealth Fund’ should be funded and whom it should benefit.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the consultation includes the potential option for payments to be made directly to households affected by shale gas ventures.
The Treasury said that communities where shale development could take place are set to receive millions of pounds, with its proposed Shale Wealth Fund potentially worth up to £1bn in total, paying out over 25 years.
Up to 10% of tax revenues arising from shale gas production will be used for the benefit of people who live in areas that host shale sites, it said.
May’s changes would mean that private households could benefit financially as well as local authorities.
She said: "As I said on my first night as prime minister: when we take the big calls, we’ll think not of the powerful but of you.
"This announcement is an example of putting those principles into action.
"It’s about making sure people personally benefit from economic decisions that are taken – not just councils – and putting them back in control over their lives."
The consequences of fracking
Only one shale gas well near Blackpool, in Lancashire, has so far been fracked in Britain but was later abandoned when some of the work undertaken triggered an earth tremor.
That resulted in an 18 month ban on the hydraulic fracturing technology used to extract gas from shale rock.
Some farmers have been critical of fracking and the direct consequences of the activity on nearby farms.
A North Yorkshire farmer has spoken of her fear of pollution after a local authority gave the go-ahead for fracking operations in the UK for the first time in five years.
She told FarmingUK that her cattle were reliant on water from a borehole, which she feared could be contaminated by the fracking operations.
The farmer said that evidence was emerging from the United States, where fracking has been used for some years, that water sources had been polluted.
