Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has met representatives of the company behind plans to drill for gas at Burniston to learn more about their proposal.
Despite her opposition to fracking and proppant-squeezing – the technique Europa Oil and Gas want to perform in Burniston - Ms Hume was shown around the location of its planned exploration to ensure she has heard “all sides” of the argument.
As she prepares to hold a public meeting on the matter later this month, Ms Hume then introduced Europa officials to local resident Steve Illingworth so they can better understand why he opposes their plan.
Mr Illingworth lives close to the 1.2 hectares of land at Burniston Mill where Europa hope to explore whether gas can be extracted on a commercially viable basis.
Ms Hume said:
“I am opposed to fracking in all its forms including proppant squeeze.
“It is my job as MP for Scarborough and Whitby to ensure Europa understand the depth of feeling of my constituents against the proposals to turn a beautiful pocket of countryside on the edge of the NY Moors into a mini fracking site.
“I was able to introduce Europa executives face to face with Steve Illingworth, who lives 200m from the proposed site so they could hear first-hand why he is against the proposal.”
Ms Hume stressed her decision to tour the site reflected her responsibility as an MP to “better understand” the details of Europa’s intentions and should not be interpreted as a sign she agrees with them. An ‘Ask Alison’ event has been arranged in Burniston on May 28th (2-3pm).
Proppant-squeezing involves using a smaller volume of fluid than hydraulic fracturing – the process commonly known as ‘fracking’.
There is currently a moratorium on fracking but ‘proppant squeeze’ is a legal technique, subject to the necessary approvals, used by the oil and gas industries.
Both Burniston Parish Council and Newby and Scalby Town Council have voted unanimously against Europa’s plans, with the latter “strongly urging” North Yorkshire Council (NYC) to reject the firm’s planning application.
The application, which will be considered by NYC, contains an estimate of over 1,000 heavy goods vehicle movements during the exploration phase.
The North York Moors National Park Authority has accepted a recommendation by its officers not to lodge an objection.
Will Holland, Europa Gas and Oil’s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, said:
“I was very grateful that Ms Hume took the time to visit the proposed site which gave her the opportunity to pose further questions directly to the Europa team on the impacts of the project on the local area and residents.
“As well as the site itself, we walked around the village to address the potential visual and noise impact at nearby residential properties.
“The pre-existing industrial nature of the site, which is adjacent to a major A road, lends itself to a development of this type.
“UK gas demand is decreasing year on year, however domestic production is decreasing at a factor of four times more and as a result, UK energy net import dependency increased to 43% in 2024, from <30% in 2020.
“While this planning application is for a temporary site, it was good meet again with Steve to listen to his objections and address some of his misconceptions to both this temporary application and any further applications that might be lodged should the appraisal drilling prove to be successful.”
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