#FrackturedCommunities: our campaign against fracking

CPRE has long campaigned against fracking. We want the communities who’ll be affected to be able to decide whether fracking works for them – and we’ve had real success.

2018 saw the government consult on proposals to streamline the planning process for fracking – disregarding widespread opposition. In response, we ran a huge campaign to push for communities to have their say on fracking. Called #FrackturedCommunities, we argued for local voices to be heard. CPRE has always believed that the concerns of local people must be at the heart of planning, but these proposals completely undermined this principle and we called on the government to drop them.

Calling for consultation

Local communities told us that they were concerned about the risks that fracking poses to landscapes, the tranquillity of our countryside – and of course environmental and climate concerns. We agreed. The full impact of fracking is not yet understood, and unless it could be guaranteed that these risks will not materialise, we argued that fracking should be scrutinised further. We stood alongside our CPRE local groups in resisting changes to the rules that would make fracking easier.

Our #FrackturedCommunities petition, run with 38 Degrees, one of the UK’s largest campaigning organisations, was hugely impactful. It gathered over 200,000 signatures and raised awareness of the need for local people to be consulted about fracking. And we continue to advocate for more consultation on areas such as this, where communities will naturally be affected. CPRE stands with rural communities, working together for a beautiful countryside for now and for generations to come.