Watch key fracking meeting online

Planning committee members will meet at 1pm on Monday at County Hall in Matlock to decide Derbyshire County Council's 'position' on the proposals by oil and chemical firm Ineos for the Bramley Moor Lane site in Marsh Lane, near Eckington.

Ineos wants to erect a drilling rig up to 60 metres tall and drill around 2,400 metres below the ground to investigate the suitability of the rock for fracking − the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure into rocks deep underground to create tiny cracks so shale gas can flow up a well to the surface and be collected.

Once the committee has decided on the council's position, it will be sent to the Planning Inspectorate where a planning inspector will have the final say following a public inquiry on June 19. This is because Ineos appealed saying the county council was taking too long to make a decision - something the authority denied.

The controversial proposals are not expected to be opposed by the.county council.

Members of the public and groups will be able to speak at the meeting after the county council initially sent out a letter stating they would not be allowed.

People can watch it online at: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/bramleymoorlane

Derbyshire County Council has said that parking at County Hall is very limited. A free shuttle bus will be available to take people attending the meeting from Matlock Interchange – which is next to the train station – to County Hall between 11am and 1pm. It will also stop to pick up passengers at marked bus stops on Bakewell Road, opposite McDonald's and outside Marks and Spencer, and Bank Road, next to Derbyshire Dales District Council offices. Buses will run at least every 30 minutes from the interchange.

There will be no return shuttle service but normal bus services will be running down Bank Road into town.