A poll carried out by ICM on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has found that 47% of people would not be happy for a shale-gas well site using hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking) to be set up within 10 miles of their home (just 14% said they would be happy).

However, the poll of 2,000 people also found that only 30% of people have a ‘good’ understanding of what fracking is, while 40% said they had ‘some’ understanding of it, and 30% said they had ‘little or no’ understanding. These findings were published just days after the Prime Minister announced that local authorities which allow drilling will receive 100% of the business rates collected from the scheme — double the current 50% figure. “Local communities” will also be offered £100,000 when a well is dug, along with 1% of revenues over its life-time.

The biggest concerns for those polled included: damage to the local environment; noise and disruption; the chemicals used and health risks; and the contamination of drinking water. The reasons given by those in favour of having a local fracking site included: energy security; more local jobs and skills development opportunities; and the potential for it to cut consumer energy bills.

Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution, said: “These poll results suggest that simply offering money to local councils and communities is not enough to convince the public about the benefits of fracking for gas; much more work needs to be done to engage with citizens on this potential activity. Building trust between Government, industry and communities is essential if we wish to make use of this technique in shale rocks under the UK; clearly, much more work needs to be done.”

Taking questions at the House of Commons Liaison Select Committee last week, David Cameron said that shale gas has the potential to meet all of the UK’s gas needs for 30 years. The PM added that shale gas in the USA had led to a one-third cut in gas prices, prompting a return of jobs from abroad. He forecast that around 75,000 jobs could be created in the UK as a result of fracking being adopted successfully.