Hundreds Join Burniston Protest March

More than 200 locals and activists joined a protest march against plans for a gas drilling rig in Burniston, near Scarborough, on Saturday.

Hundreds of residents and anti-fracking campaigners marched in opposition to proposals by Europa Oil & Gas to explore for gas on agricultural land at Burniston, near Scarborough and the North York Moors National Park.

If plans are approved, a 38m high drilling rig could be installed on the site and a ‘proppant squeeze’ project would be used to explore what Europa says is a “potentially significant gas resource”.

The oil and gas company has said that its proposals would benefit the local economy and would not harm the environment or even be noticed by residents, but many locals at Saturday’s demonstration said they were worried for the future of the area.

Local resident Laura Garforth, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):

“I strongly believe that the time for natural gas extraction is in the past.

“I’ve seen online what these things look like when they’re up and running and it really will disturb the peace and quiet that we get.”

Europa has said that if the reserves are deemed financially viable and further plans were approved, extraction could take place for “about 20 years”.

Proposals submitted to the council state: “As a responsible oil and gas exploration and production business, Europa is highly conscious of its responsibilities and is mindful of the potential risks to people and the environment.

“Any risk of pollution caused by water run-off can be mitigated by using standard techniques that have proven successful at other on-shore sites.”

North Yorkshire Council is currently considering the proposals and is accepting representations from the public and other consultees.

Chrissie White, a volunteer marshal at the demonstration, said:

“We have such a lovely unspoilt area where tourism is one of the main assets, but we’re going to have a hundred-foot rig burning here, there’s going to be pollution, there will be HGVs accessing the site and the roads are already terrible.”

Jenny Hartley, a member of the steering group for Frack Free Coastal Communities, one of the organisers of the demonstration, said the group’s focus had been on providing residents with accurate information through public meetings and posting more than 5,000 leaflets.

Ms Hartley said that for many of those attending it was their first time at a demonstration:

“We are code red for the climate – but for the locals, for the impact on heritage coastline, unique biodiversity and all of the pollution from the flaring means we just don’t want it here.”

A forecast of rain had not put off a range of locals from different age groups attending the march, including 15-year-old Burniston local Oscar Tomlin, who said he was worried about pollution and climate change.

He told the LDRS:

“There are schools within a mile of this area, this [proposal] is a bad thing and we don’t want it anywhere in the area.”

Rosie Toothill, from Parents for Future York and North Yorkshire, travelled from York “because we have to say no to companies who frack or use loopholes to do so and the science is clear that we can have no new oil and gas if we want our children to have a habitable planet”.

The plans released by the company state:

“For clarity, Europa will not use the process known as High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (commonly referred to as ‘fracking’).”

Europa has also maintained that “it is a misconception that there is a loophole” in the fracking moratorium.

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