Local activist groups and environmentalists say the fracking process will cause pollution and excessive traffic, and negatively affect the price of property. The fracking technology has improved over the years, and fears over the technique are, therefore, overblown. UK authorities refer to a fracking boom in the United States.
In 2014, the former finance minister George Osborne set up the Shale Wealth Fund. The UK government has recently decided that individual households affected by fracking could receive direct payments from the fund. It was previously planned that the money will go to local trusts and councils. The opposition Labour party criticized the move and wondered why there are no payouts for people affected by clean energy such as wind farms.
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