Early engagement with the community and the planning authority is key. It helps to bring order and information to the process. It can prevent issues mushrooming, with some careful explanation of the proposal.
Engagement helps to break down barriers; communities need a voice and it’s right that they should have one. But engagement also presents an opportunity to show them what an onshore drilling operation looks like and to explain things in a way that the layman can understand. For example: what will it look like; what is the noise level; just how much water is needed? The community will have to have the benefits clearly spelled out to them if there is any hope of the developers obtaining the elusive social licence to operate.