Village gas rig plan recommended for approval

Plans for a gas drilling rig near Scarborough have been recommended for approval despite more than 1,500 local objections.

Planning officers at North Yorkshire Council have backed plans by Europa Oil & Gas for a 125ft (38m) rig in the village of Burniston, close to the North York Moors National Park.

The company has proposed using a proppant squeeze method to extract the gas - a technique which has been likened to "small scale fracking".

​The scheme is due to be discussed by councillors at a meeting at Scarborough Town Hall next Friday.

The council said there were "no material planning considerations that warrant its refusal", adding "there would be no unacceptable adverse environmental impacts resulting from the proposed development".

​Residents in the area, including local farmers, have said they are seriously concerned by the potential environmental impacts of the proposal, including on underground waterways.

The initial scheme would test whether gas could be extracted on a commercially viable basis.

However, Scarborough and Whitby's Labour MP Alison Hume suggested a decision should be delayed to allow for changes to national planning policy to take effect.

She said the proposed changes would remove the requirement for councils to place "great weight" on onshore oil and gas benefits.

​Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Hume added: ​"If adopted, this would materially alter how such applications are assessed, making a postponement reasonable.

​"I remain confident that small-scale fracking will not go ahead in Burniston."

​The LDRS contacted ​Europa Oil & Gas for a comment but the firm did not immediately respond.

The proppant squeeze technique has been accused by some of being a loophole in the UK's moratorium on the controversial fossil fuel extraction process.

However, such procedures have been regularly used in the UK for a number of years and industry experts consider the technique low-volume, unlike the process formally termed hydraulic fracturing.

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