The Decision

What?

On 17th July, 2015, Energy Minister Lord Bourne unexpectedly gave the go-ahead for underground gas storage in Preesall on behalf of the Secretary of State. A Government order came into force on 7th August. Halite now has permission to create no more than 19 caverns, with a minimum working capacity of 130 million cubic metres of gas . The £600 million project will include a site entrance and security compound; a Booster Pump Station and control room; a Gas Compressor Compound; seven Wellhead Compounds, from which 19 underground caverns will be created; and a new access road from the A588 Hallgate Lane.

The planning documents and the decision can be found here.

Where?

The salt cavern site will cover large areas of land in Preesall and Knott End less than half a mile from local homes and close to the densely populated town of Fleetwood. The brine outfall pipe will be at Rossall in Fleetwood and will pump thousands of tonnes of toxic brine out into the Wyre Estuary, a Site of Special Scientific Interest that supports the largest area of ungrazed saltmarsh in North West England. Construction will take place alongside Barnaby Sands. Pipelines to deliver the gas to the network will travel from the site along Pilling Moss to Nateby. 

​Halite's maps and drawings can be found here. 

When?

Halite has five years from the date of the decision to start the work. The construction period will last eight years with up to 62 lorries a day being allowed on our small country roads. Construction will start with the brine outfall pipe at Rossall, the pump station and the access road in Stalmine/Preesall. Halite has now started with pre-construction survey work and has announced that plans will begin from January 2018. At a recent meeting in Fleetwood in January 2019, Halite announced that works would now begin on the access road in Preesall in Summer/ Autumn 2019 and that they expect gas in the ground by 2022.