Councillor who backed Yorkshire fracking gets intimidating emails

Groups opposed to the development outside the village of Kirby Misperton, near Pickering, have launched a People’s Declaration in a bid to stop fracking, as one of the councillors who voted in favour of the application confirmed he has received intimidating emails.

Frack Free Ryedale, which led the campaign against the application by the UK firm Third Energy, launched the declaration along with Friends of the Earth.

It said in a statement: “We urge and will support the Government to develop a balanced long-term energy policy that will achieve our globally agreed climate change targets.

“Today we resolve to continue to fight to remain free from fracking, to protect our communities, our beautiful countryside, our air and water, and to protect the future of the planet. We ask people across the country to join us by supporting this declaration.”

The decision to allow the proposal to go ahead at a site near Kirby Misperton is a huge shot in the arm for the energy industry’s attempts to get a UK fracking industry off the ground.

Protesters who had gathered outside Northallerton’s County Hall during the two-day hearing met the decision with shouts of dismay.

More than 80 speakers had told the county council’s planning committee of the fears over the possible impact of fracking on water, farming, tourism and the wider environment.

But Third Energy insisted the objections were based on misunderstandings and fearmongering and pointed to its record of mining gas in the area through conventional means.

It’s not over yet: Campaigners fight on after North Yorkshire fracking plan is approved

A day like no other - protests as North Yorkshire debates fracking plan

United States towns official urges North Yorkshire councillors to back fracking in Ryedale

GP Taylor: Why fracking in Ryedale must be resisted at all costs

YP Letters: Why Ryedale should embrace fracking

YP Letters: The fracking issue in North Yorkshire, from A to Z

Fracking: all your questions answered

Councillors in Northallerton voted by 7-4 on Monday to give the green light to the first fracking operation in the UK for five years.

The controversial decision has been condemned as a travesty by those opposed to the move, but a “victory for pragmatism” by those in favour.

The vote allows Third Energy to frack for shale gas using an existing two-mile deep well - called KM8 - drilled in 2013.

The fracking application is the first to be approved in the UK since 2011, when tests on the Fylde coast, in Lancashire, were found to have been the probable cause of minor earthquakes in the area.

Since then, two high-profile applications to frack in Lancashire have been rejected by councillors and are now the subject of appeals.

One of the councillors who voted for the application, Tory Cliff Trotter, confirmed he had received intimidatory emails.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Yes, a few. But that’s par for the course, I suppose.

“But we tried to look to the future, the best for the people of England.”

He said: “I’m totally against nuclear power stations and if we’ve got the resources under the ground - we’ve got coal there, we’ve got gas there, we’re bringing it round the world to try and run this country with all these things that we’re importing. And we’ve got it on our doorstep. But it’s just how we do it.

He said: “I’m not an expert, I’m not a professor. The number of professors that were talking - we get one saying yes, and one saying no.”

Friends of the Earth said it will look at whether the decision can be challenged, and campaigner Simon Bowens said: “This is an absolute travesty of a decision but the battle is very far from over.”

Planners had recommended the application be approved, despite acknowledging that the majority of representations received in consultation were objections.

Vicky Perkin, a council planning officer, told the committee that, of 4,420 individual representations, 4,375 were objections and just 36 were in support of the application.

The Government has said it is going “all out for shale” to boost energy security and the economy.

But opponents fear fracking - in which liquid is pumped deep underground at high pressure to fracture rock and release gas - can cause problems including water contamination, earthquakes and noise and traffic pollution.

Environmentalists also warn that pursuing new sources of gas - a fossil fuel - is not compatible with efforts to tackle climate change.

Rasik Valand, chief executive of Third Energy, said work would not start at the site for “months and months” and would initially be an “exploration phase”.

When asked if this was a precedent for further fracking applications to be approved, he said: “We don’t look upon it like that. We are a local company, we see ourselves as a local company. For us, this is about testing what’s in our local area.”

Ken Cronin, chief executive of UK Onshore Oil and Gas, said it is “a very important first step”.

North Yorkshire Council chief executive Richard Flinton said the decision does not necessarily mean similar decisions will follow and committee chairman Peter Sowray said he knew people would be angry about the decision but was “comfortable” with the outcome.

BACKGROUND

Video: A day like no other - protests as North Yorkshire debates fracking plan

WATCH: Fracking explained in five minutes

Fracking could have ‘devastating’ impact, councillors warned

US plea to block fracking in North Yorkshire

UK fracking’s future at stake as county considers firm’s proposal

YP Comment: Fear and smear of fracking debate