Call for Fracking Loop Hole Closure After Application for Burniston Rig

Friday, 26 July 2024 06:00

By Matthew Pells and Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

Yorkshire Coast councillors are calling for a loop hole in the fracking ban to be dealt with.

A loop hole in the fracking ban should be closed.

That's the call from local councillors after plans were submitted for a new gas bore hole near Burniston.

Europa Oil and Gas wants to install a 30 meter high drilling rig and use "a low volume fracking technique" to explore for natural gas.

North Yorkshire Councillor Bryn Griffiths has called on the council to bring the matter to the attention of the Prime Minister.

Eastfield Councillor - Tony Randerson - has also called on the council to refer the matter to the government.

The council's Executive Member for Managing the Environment - Councillor Greg White - says that although the council does not have a fracking ban itself, it does have other strong protections that come in to play in relation to mineral extraction.

Scarborough councillor Rich Maw is calling for more action to be taken to close the fracking loop hole.

Councillor White says the council is committed to tackling impacts on climate change

The proposed site is about 800m from the North York Moors National Park and within the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast Management Area.

The planning documents state “the site is likely to be sensitive to development” owing to its special landscape qualities, being near the coast and the Cleveland Way and the Scalby Character Area where there are views across the rolling landscape, across the North Sea and along the coastline.

Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, also wrote to the government this week to highlight the issue and ask when “legislation banning fracking in all of its forms” would be introduced.

In a letter to Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Alison Hume said there seemed to be “a lacuna in the legislation” which would “avoid the legal definition of fracking”.

The MP added: “The impact of such a drilling operation would be felt massively[…] and would be detrimental to our mission to tackle climate change.”

The firm says as its operations would take place over a relatively short period, it would be unlikely to have significant environmental effects and would be in line with national planning policy which seeks to support hydrocarbon production and contributes to UK energy security.

RELATED STORIES : Drilling Rig Plan for Burniston

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