CLACKMANNANSHIRE council leader Les Sharp has warned opponents of fracking that the local authority must tread carefully on the issue to avoid breaching planning rules for any proposed shale gas extraction in the area.

The council leader spoke to the Advertiser and said there is little knowledge available on the issues surrounding fracking.

And he pointed out that the council would legally risk losing the right to review any planning applications in the future if it took a stand either for or against fracking.

He said: “Our officers [on the planning committee], I spoke to them yesterday, have limited knowledge on this.

“As a council, we’ve got to be careful. There are two reasons for that and this is not dodging the issue by any means. Such developments would have to come in as a planning application.

“To date we have no applications yet. If we make any comment on any application that may come in, and this is in general – not just regarding fracking, it by law excludes us from sitting on the planning process.” Last week Wednesday (26 November) an anti-fracking campaign group called Clacks Against Unconventional Gas Extraction (CAUGE) had its first informal meeting at the Bowmar Centre in Alloa.

Around 150 concerned local residents attended the meeting which ran for over two hours. A variety of speakers talked about the potential negative and devastating effects of the shale gas industry and what this could mean for the central belt.

Speakers at the meeting included Professor Andrew Watterson, head of the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group at Stirling University, who also highlighted the lack of research, data and studies around the issue.

In addition he talked about how certain negative health effects may not emerge until decades after an industry starts operating.

He explained: “It raises the question that when these materials, substances and processes come in, how long does it take to identify what the problems are, who will be affected and who is in fact paying the price for that development if there are problems.” Janette McGowan, spokesperson for CAUGE, told the Advertiser after the meeting: “We were reassured by the number of people who attended this first Clackmannashire meeting to find out more about the consequences of unconventional gas extraction and how it will impact on our environment and our health.

“We don’t believe and don’t trust INEOS, DART and the other extraction companies given the information we’ve received from health experts and scientists which seems to directly contradict the statements the extraction companies are giving to the media.” At the meeting, several attendees signed a letter to Cllr Sharp, expressing their “extreme concern”.

He promised that every application would be reviewed by the planning committee in a “cautious and measured approach with the facts in mind” and added: “I think people are right to have a concern, because it is unknown.” The council leader also warned that even if the council was to reject any applications they could be taken to the Holyrood, where any decisions could be overruled.

He then slammed the Westminster government for not consulting any local authorities before giving out licences to companies.

Cllr Sharp added: “They have not come up and said, ‘OK guys, here is a public display of what’s going to happen, this is the technical stuff behind it’, they have not done that, they have not consulted with anybody.” At the meeting, it was also announced that there will be a peaceful protest against fracking this Sunday (7 December) outside INEOS’s Grangemouth facilities at 2pm.