A scheme to drill up to four wells and frack for shale gas at has been given the green light by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid following an appeal.
Fracking involves pumping liquid deep underground at high pressure to fracture shale rock and release gas.
Andy Lester, from Christian environmental charity Arocha UK, told Premier he is disappointed with the decision, as are many locals.
He said: "Rulings by the parish council, the borough council and the county council - all three levels of local government have rejected this scheme - and yet it's been overturned by central government.
"This is clearly not democracy in action."
He said: "Local people have had their say and the will of the local people should be respected."
Business groups welcomed the "important step forward" for developing new domestic gas sources to provide energy and reduce the UK's dependence on imports.
Mr Javid said decision comes after "extensive consideration of all the evidence, including an independent planning inspector's report and evidence submitted during a two-week public inquiry.
"Shale gas has the potential to power economic growth, support 64,000 jobs, and provide a new domestic energy source, making us less reliant on imports."
He stressed that it will benefit the local community.
However, opponents worry it can cause earthquakes, pollute water, lead to damaging development in the countryside and hit house prices.
"Often bad things bring in jobs to the local economy, but the reality is if we were investing in alternative energy, it would create far more jobs than fracking would do in cases like this," said Andy Lester.
"It's likely to have an impact on their houses, it could well have an impact on their ground-water supply."
A second site in Lancashire has not yet been given the green light amid concerns over HGV traffic and road safety in the area.
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Andy Lester here:
