Mayor David Skaith has said there are ‘real concerns’ about plans for hydraulic fracking in Scarborough just 800m from the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
David Skaith, the mayor of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, has said that a planned gas drilling rig at Burniston Mill in Scarborough is not something he wants to see happen.
It comes as Europa Oil & Gas confirmed its intention to proceed with a full planning application for a gas drilling rig in Burniston which is formally due to be submitted in November.
Residents and politicians have opposed the scheme, highlighting concerns about impacts on the local community and environment, but Europa’s CEO said the company would “listen to people’s concerns”.
The ‘hydraulic fracking’ project could take up to 17 weeks and would establish whether gas in an underground reservoir at Burniston could be extracted for “commercially viable production”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Mr Skaith said that North Yorkshire, unlike some urbanised areas, had the ability “to get to net zero and really drive down carbon” and that the county should lead on promoting positive environmental change.
“If we as a country are going to get to net zero and beyond and be real leaders in [creating] a greener environment, we in North Yorkshire have to be leading on this,” he added.
Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has written to energy secretary Ed Miliband calling on the government to ban fracking completely.
Ms Hume said: “I am completely opposed to fracking and the damage it does to our planet and the environment.
“I will do all I can to support the local community in Burniston to stop this fracking application going any further.”
Asked whether he agreed with his Labour colleague’s opposition to the scheme, mayor Mr Skaith told the LDRS the plans were “not something I want to be seeing.”
More than a hundred residents attended a meeting of Burniston Parish Council in July to “unanimously” oppose the plan and a Frack Free Scarborough campaign group has also been set up.
On Thursday, September 26, Europa will be organising a drop-in consultation session at Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall.
If the plans are approved, the company is hoping to start drilling by the start of 2026
The company’s CEO, William Holland, said he hoped to have “as many people as possible” attend the consultation session later this month.
He defended the plans and said he hoped that the possibility of new jobs and investment “would be attractive to the local community”.
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