Leitrim county councillors yesterday voted, for a second time, for an effective ban on fracking in their development plan – despite a warning that the clause was illegal and could be overturned by Minister for Environment Alan Kelly.
Next Monday, Minister for Energy Alex White will meet a joint delegation from Leitrim and Cavan county councils to discuss the issue of hydraulic fracturing for gas.
Leitrim chief executive Frank Curran yesterday warned councillors that the clause they wanted to insert in the 2015-2021 development plan amounted to a “complete prohibition” and was therefore not legally sound. “The council has no express power to do this,” he said.
Mr Curran also told councillors he had been warned by the department that if they proceeded with the amendment, Mr Kelly could use his “powers of correction” to remove it.
In a letter to the council executive, the department of Environment warned that “policy 124” in its draft plan, which was approved by councillors last January, amounted to a blanket ban, which was prohibited.
The department warned that the policy on fracking in the Leitrim draft plan was “not acceptable” and, unless it was removed, the Minister would have to consider his powers under the Planning and Development Act.
Anti-fracking campaigners demonstrated outside yesterday’s special meeting of the council amid claims widely circulated on social media – and rejected by some lobby groups – that the existing ban was to be “watered down”.
Lobby group No Fracking Ireland accused the department of putting councillors under pressure to undo the ban. Yesterday it emerged that following weekend consultations between some campaigners and some councillors, a new wording had been agreed. Officials insisted it could be legally challenged, but the elected representatives unanimously backed it.
After the meeting, Leah Doherty of No Fracking Ireland said they were in an even stronger position now as the new policy 124 had been unanimously approved, while last January, one councillor had voted against a similar wording while three others abstained.
Many of those demonstrating outside the meeting were scathing about the Government’s decision to await the findings of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report before deciding its policy on fracking. “Look at the state of water in Co Roscommon – they have failed to regulate,” said Paddy McGourty of Morality of Fracking.
Meanwhile, Leitrim county councillors have voted not to reduce property tax by 15 per cent after a warning from officials it would cost €328,000 and would affect its budget.
* This article was amended on September 16th.
