On Air Now

Mike Nicholson

10:00am - 2:00pm

  • 01723 336444

Now Playing

Communards

Never Can Say Goodbye

Download

Council Calls for Environmental Assessment of Burniston Drilling Rig Plans

Friday, 2 August 2024 14:55

By Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

North Yorkshire Council has ruled that a controversial plan for a gas drilling rig near Scarborough must come with an environmental assessment as it would have ‘a significant impact’ on the area.

Europa Oil and Gas must provide an environmental impact assessment (EIA) if it submits a full planning application for the drilling of a “lateral borehole” for “conventional gas exploration” in Burniston, Scarborough.

North Yorkshire Council’s decision on Friday, August 2, was welcomed by campaigners, many of whom have said the company’s plan represents “fracking by the backdoor”.

It comes despite the firm saying it did not believe an EIA would be necessary on the grounds that the “proposed development is not likely to have significant environmental effects” based on the “relatively short duration of the drilling operations”.

However, council planning officers concluded that the 30m high drilling rig “would have significant impacts upon the environment” as well as on local highway safety.

Submitted plans state that the construction, drilling and completion phases would generate 1,050 HGV movements at the site.

The location of the site in Burniston, near Scarborough’s heritage coast and the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP) was also highlighted by officers as areas of concern.

A council report states that the rig would be “highly visible from the surrounding area, including the coast road” with the Cinder Track 360 metres away and the nearest boundary of the NYMNP 800 metres away.

Planning officers said that the proposed development “would have the potential for significant impact on the scenic value of the heritage coast and impact on the amenity of the local area”.

Europa Oil and Gas has said that in order to determine the potential reserves of gas, it will be necessary to undertake a proppant squeeze” which would take up to 17 weeks, with further flow testing of 15 weeks.

More than a hundred residents recently attended a meeting of Burniston Parish Council to “unanimously” oppose the plan.

Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has strongly opposed the scheme and written to the Government asking it to tighten legislation.

She said the application was “seeking to get around” a legal moratorium on fracking by “proposing a version of fracking called a ‘proppant squeeze’ which uses less water”.

The council’s decision requiring the EIA stated that the development could seriously impact highway safety for vehicles “especially during the tourist season when the number of vehicles using the A165 Coast Road increases significantly.”

The authority also noted that the drilling was likely to create noise and dust as well as the potential for “vibration impacts.”

North Yorkshire Council’s decision concluded that the environmental statement – which would be required with a planning application – should include a “focus on mitigation against potential environmental impacts and a high-quality restoration scheme”.

 

Did you find this article useful?

This is the Coast is committed to providing a daily local news service for the Yorkshire Coast. We are a small locally owned and operated business which employs professional journalists and reporters. We do not receive any public funding or grants and we are entirely funded by our local commercial operations. We enjoy fabulous support from local businesses who work with us on their advertising and marketing campaigns, but the cost of providing high quality, well researched, fact checked local news coverage is significant.

If you appreciate what This is the Coast does, and would like to help support our journalism, please consider supporting us on a monthly basis today.

A small contribution from all our readers would really help support independent journalism for the Yorkshire Coast.

More from Yorkshire Coast News

Comments

Add a comment

Log in to the club or enter your details below.

Follow Us

Get Our Apps

Our Apps are now available for iOS, Android and Smart Speakers.

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play
  • Just ask Amazon Alexa
  • Available on Roku

Today's Weather

  • Scarborough

    Sunny

    High: 10°C | Low: 6°C

  • Filey

    Sunny

    High: 10°C | Low: 6°C

  • Whitby

    Sunny

    High: 11°C | Low: 6°C

  • Bridlington

    Sunny

    High: 11°C | Low: 6°C

  • Hornsea

    Sunny

    High: 10°C | Low: 7°C

  • Driffield

    Sunny

    High: 13°C | Low: 5°C

News