* Communities minister has power to approve shale permits
* Power transferred from local authorities to minister
* Shale gas appeals given priority (Adds comment from UK energy secretary, IGas, Labour ministerand detail)
By Karolin Schaps and Nina Chestney
LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The British government will giveits communities minister the power to directly approve shale gaspermits, removing decision-making from local politicians whohave in the past months blocked the progress of Britain's firstsuch wells.
In late June, local government officials in northwestEngland rejected two applications to carry out hydraulicfracturing, known as fracking, saying the projects would be toonoisy and blight the landscape.
New rules, applicable immediately, will allow governmentintervention to approve or reject permits and will also meanappeals involving shale gas projects will be given priority.
Shale gas developer Cuadrilla Resources, whose applicationswere rejected in June, has already decided to appeal against itspermit refusals.
Delays to the planning process had been too long, Secretaryof State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd told BBC TV onThursday.
"Local authorities are still going to be very much involved,but the Secretary for State for communities and local governmentwill now have a increased role in making sure they stick to theplanning timetable," she added.
The government also said it would present proposals laterthis year to create a sovereign wealth fund from returnsgenerated from shale gas production.
Shale developer IGas Energy said the move gaveclarity on the timetable for determining planning decisions forshale oil and gas exploration.
Pro-business groups also welcomed the decision, saying itwould help get shale gas projects up and running.
Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shalegas trapped in underground rocks and the government has beensupportive of developing these reserves to counter decliningNorth Sea oil and gas output.
However, progress has been slow because of opposition bylocal residents and environmental campaigners. Some areconcerned about groundwater contamination from chemicals used inthe process, while others fear the potential impact on propertyprices or tourism.
Some environmental groups said the government's decisionwould shut out local communities from crucial decisions.
The government has treated onshore wind power differently.In May, it said it plans to transfer consenting power for largeonshore wind from the energy minister to local planningauthorities in England.
Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and ClimateChange, Caroline Flint, said this showed the government was"clearly guilty of double standards". (Additional reporting by Andrew Callus, Kylie MacLellan, KateHolton and William James; Editing by David Evans and Keith Weir)