North Yorkshire Council moves to block fracking near Burniston, with final decision pending government environmental assessment ruling.
The local authority has said it is minded to reject plans for a fracking scheme near Burniston, outside Scarborough, in a decision welcomed by campaigners.
Final approval has been delayed while the government decides whether an environmental impact assessment is required under regulations.
Campaigners from Friends of the Earth, the world’s largest grassroots environmental network, have called the council’s position a ‘huge victory’ for local residents.
Fracking – a drilling technique used to extract oil and gas from deep underground – has been under moratorium in England since 2019, although it was briefly passed during liz Truss’s time as prime minister.
However, protestors say there is still a loophole allowing some low-volume techniques, such as ‘proppant squeeze’, to continue.
Earlier this month, Friends of the Earth published research led by Professor Stuart Haszeldine of the University of Edinburgh. It warned that earthquakes linked to both low and low-volume fracking are ‘equally large and equally unpredictable’.
The group is now urging the government to make its planned ban on fracking watertight by closing this loophole. The full details are expected in an Energy Independence Bill, which could be included in next month’s King’s Speech.
Tony Bosworth, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: ‘We’re delighted that North Yorkshire Council is minded to reject this damaging and unnecessary fracking proposal. This is a huge victory for local people who stood up to protect their community.
‘The people of Burniston should never have been put under this threat in the first place. Ministers have promised to ban fracking for good – but proppant squeeze is just fracking under another name.’
Chris Garforth, steering group chair of Frack Free Coastal Communities, added: ‘This is a victory for science, for common sense, and for the people who live on this coastline.
‘The planning committee has listened to the evidence and to the 1,600 people who objected. Now we need the government to close the loophole in the fracking moratorium, and make sure no community anyway in the UK faces this fight again.’
The Burniston plan was unanimously opposed by Reform-led Scarborough Town Council, despite the national party supporting fracking. Local MP Alison Hume also opposed it, along with more than 1,600 local people.
Image: Paul-Alain Hunt/UnSplash
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