Burniston decision North Yorkshire Council’s as the government in February decided not to call in the planning application for the proposal by Europa Oil & Gas for a 125ft (38m) rig in Burniston. North Yorkshire Councillors will now meet in April to decide on a controversial application to drill for gas near the North York Moors National Park.
As previously reported, Europa Oil and Gas wants to install a 38-metre drilling rig at a site close to Burniston, near Scarborough, to test whether the fossil fuel could be extracted on a commercially viable basis. Critics have raised environmental concerns and there is a strong local campaign against the proposal.
If the application is approved, Europa would use a ‘proppant squeeze’ method to extract the gas – a technique which has been likened to “small-scale fracking” and which is allowed under current legislation.The North Yorkshire BBC News web site reported on 20 March that the application will be discussed at Scarborough Town Hall at 1.00pm on Friday 24 April. North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for corporate services, Heather Phillips, said: “As is the case with all planning applications, members of the committee will carefully consider all representations prior to any decision being made.” She said the plans had “attracted significant public interest”, with more than 1,500 responses submitted.The application had been due to be discussed in January, but it was delayed after a request for the government to decide it.
The firm previously said the project would bring economic and job benefits. However, Campaigners Frack Free Coastal Communities (FFCC) who are backed by Burniston Parish Council commented .:“We are looking forward to putting our case for refusal of planning permission to the Strategic Planning Committee on 24th April. It will be over 18 months since Europa first came to Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall with their glossy misinformation and bland promises that we would not notice the drilling of a gas well on the edge of the village! “We will be urging the Council to arrange a new site visit for committee members so that the 12 members who did not visit in January can see for themselves that the site and its surrounds are not as Europa described them in their planning application. Perhaps they’ll also have the chance to visit the recent cliff falls less than half a mile away and mull over the potential impact of drilling and fracking on the obviously fragile Heritage Coast….”
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