North Yorkshire Council says no date has been set for a decision on proposed plans for a gas drilling rig in Burniston.
The Europa Oil & Gas planning application proposes using a controversial “proppant squeeze” method to extract gas in Burniston, near Scarborough, after installing a 38m drilling rig on the site.
Commenting on when the application will be discussed by the authority, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of community development, Nic Harne, said:
“We recognise the significant public interest in this particular planning application.
“A date has not yet been set for the application to be heard by members of the strategic planning committee.
“However, this date will be made public once it has been confirmed.
“As with all applications, we carefully consider all representations submitted to us, and they will be assessed prior to any decision being made.”
The proposal has received objections from more than 1,500 locals and is opposed by Labour MP Alison Hume and York and North Yorkshire Mayor, David Skaith.
Europa Oil & Gas said its scheme would be positive for the local economy and “no one is going to notice” its presence.
While the Government has said it is committed to banning fracking for shale gas, ministers have recently suggested that the scale of the proposal in Burniston would not fall under the moratorium.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate last month, Minister for Energy, Michael Shanks, said:
“I want to be clear that this Government makes policy based on evidence.
“Although I have listened very closely to Alison Hume ’s points today and in the past, the evidence base is not there at the moment to suggest that low-volume hydraulic fracturing activities have the same associated risks as fracking for shale gas.”
The proppant squeeze technique has been described as “small-scale fracking” and has been accused by some of being a loophole in the UK’s moratorium on the fossil fuel extraction process.
Friends of the Earth wrote to North Yorkshire Council notifying it of the legal opinion it had obtained that said that proppant squeeze qualifies as fracking under relevant planning policy, and that it must be considered as such when the council considers Europa’s application for planning permission.
Proppant squeeze procedures have been regularly used in the UK for several years, and industry experts consider the technique low volume, unlike the process formally termed “hydraulic fracturing”.
Mr Shanks said:
“Although the evidence base is important for us to make decisions here, I do not discount for a second the concerns that communities have.
“I want to hear those concerns from across the country. I remain very open-minded, as does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, to new evidence coming forward to look at this definition, but for obvious reasons, it is important that the Government make policy decisions based on evidence that can stand up to scrutiny if ever challenged in court. That evidence base is critical.”
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