Mining firm seeks to calm fears over national park drilling work

Drilling rigs more than 100ft high are expected to be used for geological tests, to establish the extent of the potash in the North York Moors National Park and help shape the controversial plans for a huge mining operation.

Sirius Minerals unveiled proposals in January for what would be the first mine of its kind to be created in the UK for 40 years. The multi-national firm, which also has projects in Australia and the USA, has claimed the North Yorkshire development would create up to 5,000 jobs.

However, the proposals have provoked widespread concerns among conservationists who fear the North York Moors is under threat from major developments, including a separate scheme which would see a gas plant built on the edge of the national park near Thornton-le-Dale.

Sirius Minerals confirmed that planning applications had been submitted to the North York Moors National Park Authority for two temporary drilling sites in fields near the villages of Ugglebarnby and Hawsker.

If given the go-ahead by the authority’s planning committee at a meeting next month, the tests to identify potash, a mineral that is an essential component of fertiliser, could begin as early as July and take up to eight weeks to complete. The drilling work would clash with the main summer tourism season, when the national park attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across the country.

But a company spokesman said: “We are committed to bringing this project forward in the right manner and to taking account of all environmental factors.

“We have kept local parish councils, representatives and stakeholders informed of the drilling applications and are more than happy to receive further advice and comment that will help us to achieve this aim.

“Sinking of boreholes constitutes temporary works that we will complete as quickly as possible but we are keen to work with local communities on an ongoing basis to ensure that any temporary disruption is kept to an absolute minimum.”

Sirius Minerals has acquired mining rights along the North Yorkshire coast, but the exact location of the mine has yet to be determined. Up to 10 applications are expected to be submitted to the national park authority for temporary drilling sites which will be used to establish the best location for the proposed mine.

The company has also confirmed that an additional 3,212 acres of land between Whitby and Scarborough has been added to its existing holdings, bringing its total mineral rights portfolio to more than 150,000 acres.

Senior planning officials have maintained that the plans, which represent the biggest development in the national park’s history, will be “rigorously examined” before any decision is taken.

The national park authority’s director of planning, Chris France, said: “We realise the scale of the development and the implications on the landscape and environment of the national park, and indeed the economic impact for local jobs and the national economy. An application which is expected to be submitted in due course will be rigorously examined in the context of national guidelines on development within the boundaries of national parks before any decision will be made.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed earlier this month that conservations had claimed the mining operation could undermine the environment and the area’s vital tourism industry.

The North Yorkshire Moors Association’s chairman, Tom Chadwick, said that both the proposed potash mine and the gas plant had “no place in a national park landscape”.