Village gas rig plan to be discussed by councillors

Plans to build a gas drilling rig in a North Yorkshire village are set to be discussed by councillors at a meeting on Friday.

Europa Oil & Gas has proposed a 125ft (38m) rig in the village of Burniston, close to the North York Moors National Park, and the scheme has been recommended for approval by council planning officers.

The company 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 plans have attracted more than 1,600 objections from local residents, with campaigners planning to hold an event outside the planning meeting.

If the proposal was approved by North Yorkshire Council, the initial scheme at Burniston would test whether gas could be extracted on a commercially viable basis, according to Europa Oil & Gas.

Phase one would see the construction of the site, which is expected to take about seven weeks, and would involve installing three groundwater monitoring boreholes.

Drilling would then last a further seven weeks, with a 125ft (38m) drilling rig would be brought to the site.

The "proppant squeeze" phase would last about 17 weeks and involve pumping a mix of gelled fluids and proppant (sand or ceramic particles) down the wellbore at a high pressure, the company said.

Under legislation, it is not considered to be fracking, which is legally defined as using "large volumes of fluid", as the amount used in proppant squeeze methods is below this limit.

North Yorkshire Council recommended the scheme for approval, adding that "it is considered on balance that there are no material planning considerations that warrant its refusal".

The authority said there would be no unacceptable adverse environmental impacts resulting from the proposed development and it had a temporary nature of up to three years.

Chris Garforth, who is part of the campaign group Frack Free Coastal Communities, said local residents had several concerns about the plans.

"As well as worrying about the climate change impact, we're worried about the effects that hydraulic fracturing will have on the rocks beneath," he explained.

"We're worried that, as has happened elsewhere, pollutants and chemicals from the process will find new pathways through the fracked rocks into the aquifers (a layer of rock, sand, or earth that contains water) on which Scarborough depends for its drinking water.

"We're also worried about above ground effects such as air pollution, dust pollution, noise pollution and light pollution."

The campaigner claimed the drilling rig would be lit for 24 hours a day for several weeks, with houses in full visibility of the site, creating concerns over sleep and mental health.

He also thought the proposals could negatively affect the local economy.

"Scarborough and the area around it is highly dependent on tourism and the last thing it needs is a toehold for a dirty polluting industry that we could see here for 20 to 30 years if this limited planning application gets approved," Garforth added.

Europa has previously said the scheme would be positive for the local economy and "no-one is going to notice" its presence.

The firm insisted drilling would comply with "industry best practice" and environmental standards.

In a statement following the recommendation that the scheme be approved, a spokesperson for the company said they hoped the plans would get the go-ahead.

They said: "We are pleased to have received a positive recommendation from the council's planning team regarding our plans for the well in Burniston, and hope that the planning committee members will now support the expert recommendation made following a very thorough process."

​The project is due to be discussed by councillors at a strategic planning committee meeting at Scarborough Town Hall on Friday afternoon.

They will consider the planning officers' report, which recommends the approval of the proposals, but people who object to the scheme will also have an opportunity to speak.

"At the very least, we would like them to defer the decision because there are things going on which really ought to be allowed to play out before this decision is made," Garforth said.

Scarborough and Whitby's Labour MP Alison Hume also 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.

Hume previously said if new planning policies were adopted, it would "materially alter how such applications are assessed".

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