Planning applications for shale gas developments could be decided by the communities secretary if local authorities fail to determine applications within the 16-week timeframe, the government said today.
The announcement came from the communities department (Dclg) and the energy and climate change department (Decc).
The departments said they would identify councils that repeatedly failed to decide oil and gas applications within the statutory 16-week deadline unless the developer had agreed an extension.
The secretary of state would take over decisions on further applications to that council and appeals to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The inspectorate should prioritise appeals involving shale applications, the departments added.
The move was trailed in an article by energy secretary Amber Rudd in last weekend's Sunday Times. She wrote that gas still had a huge role to play in the UK's energy system because moving too quickly to zero-carbon energy risked driving up consumer bills.
Britain had one of the best regulatory systems in the world to protect people and the environment, she added. However, the planning system needed to deliver timely decisions and work for local people, she wrote.
"We can't continue with a system in which applications are dragged out for months or even years on end, a system that doesn't give certainty to industry and that could spell the end of a potentially vital national industry," she wrote.
Ken Cronin, chief executive of trade body UKOOG, said the industry was committed to consulting local communities to develop gas resources. "However, recent experience has shown that the planning process is unwieldy and the time taken for planning decisions has soared from three months to over a year, causing delay and cost. This is not the interests of local people, the industry, or indeed the British people."
The government move follows the rejection of two planning applications for shale gas developments at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood in Lancashire.
Cuadrilla originally submitted the application in June 2014, and Lancashire County Council made a final decision 12 months later. The deadline for the decision was extended several times, twice at the request of Cuadrilla, which wanted to submit a new traffic plan for the Roseacre Wood application and new proposals on noise mitigation.
Further delays occurred when the council asked Cuadrilla to revisit part of its environmental impact assessment, and to allow the council to consult with the public on new information.
The council refused the proposal for Roseacre Wood in line with the advice of its planning officers. The application at Preston New Road was also refused, despite being recommended for approval by planners.
Cuadrilla is now appealing against the refusal of both applications, as well as the refusal of proposals for seismic and groundwater monitoring stations. A spokesman for PINS said that it had already received the appeal for the monitoring stations, and expected the appeals for the drilling sites to be submitted next month. The cases would be considered together, he said.
Jennifer Mein, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: "Our committee's decisions took some time because the applicant asked us to consider further information, which then had to be consulted upon part way through the process and, because the applications were the first of its kind in the UK, a substantial level of technical detail also had to be considered."
Friends of the Earth planning adviser Naomi Luhde-Thompson said the move would "fan the flames of mistrust and opposition".
"Local authorities have been following the rules. These changes are being made because the government doesn't agree with the democratic decisions councils have been making," she said.
Public support for fracking has plummeted to 21%, according to Decc's latest survey.
The government has also published new proposals for the drilling of boreholes for groundwater monitoring to be allowed without planning permission. Following responses to an earlier consultation on the issue, it wants to extend the time that a borehole can be drilled without planning permission from six to 24 months. Groundwater protection zones would be excluded from this.
The government is also proposing that boreholes for seismic monitoring and petroleum exploration should be allowed as permitted development. The consultation closes on 24 September.