Campaigners vow to fight appeal by Europa Oil & Gas over drilling in North Yorkshire village

Europa Oil & Gas’s plans to install a 125ft (38m) rig in the village of Burniston, close to the North York Moors National Park, was refused by councillors in April, despite the scheme being recommended for approval by council planning officers.

Europa wants to use a proppant squeeze method to extract the gas - a technique which has been likened to "small-scale fracking" and which is allowed under current legislation.

The plans attracted more than 1,600 objections including fears about cliff stability, noise and light pollution, and impacts on groundwater.

Local group Frack Free Coastal Communities vowed to fight on.

Professor Chris Garforth, chair of the campaign's steering group, said: "This comes as no surprise.

"Within minutes of the planning decision, Europa's chief executive Will Holland boasted he was confident it would be overturned on appeal.

"That confidence doesn't change the facts. North Yorkshire's strategic planning committee received almost 1,600 objections and reviewed all the evidence before voting against the application.

"Europa plans to use greater volumes of fracking fluid than were used before the earthquake that sparked the fracking moratorium.

"Our cliffs are still crumbling. And we're still in a climate emergency.

"Our community said no for good reason, and nothing in an appeal can change that."

Friends of the Earth said the appeal highlights the urgent need for the government to include all forms of fracking in its upcoming fracking ban – including proppant squeeze - in its Energy Independence Bill, which is expected imminently.

Labour pledged in its 2024 general election manifesto to "ban fracking for good".

The firm’s CEO David Holland said following the meeting in April that “if we don't produce domestic gas, we buy it from overseas”. He said: "Seventy-seven per cent of people in Yorkshire consume gas for their heating, so there's a tremendous consumption of gas in Yorkshire."

Around 20% to 25% of the UK's total gas demand comes from Norway through the Easington gas terminal in East Yorkshire.