The Government should spare villages like Burniston the angst and ban all fracking - Ismail Mulla
People in the village of Burniston let out a sigh of relief last week after controversial plans for a gas drilling rig were refused by councillors. Europa Oil & Gas proposed installing a 125ft rig in the village close to the North York Moors National Park.
As someone who covered business for nearly eight years, I’m not one for blocking companies from creating jobs and driving economic growth. But that cannot come at the expense of the environment or local sentiment.
The issue with these proposals is that Yorkshire has already delivered a verdict on the dreaded practice of fracking. That is what a ‘proppant squeeze’ effectively is. You can call it whatever you want but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then Yorkshire folk will tell you it's a duck.
This project might not be on the same scale as the dreaded proposals that caused anxiety in communities like Kirby Misperton but even the idea of a mini-frack sends a shiver down the spines of many people in the region.
The opposition, before the government ended its support for fracking in 2019 after an Oil and Gas Authority report found it was not possible to accurately predict the probability of tremors associated with the activities, should have served as a reminder that it is a practice not welcome in this region.
The problem really stems from the fact that the moratorium on fracking does not cover the proppant squeeze process.
The current Government could easily spare the people of Burniston the anxiety by closing loopholes in the current ban on fracking.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband himself vowed to permanently ban fracking last October, warning the drilling was “dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment”.
Noticed I used the verb spare and not its past participle spared? That is because despite the councillors’ decision, Burniston is not out of the woods yet. The plans have simply stalled. The preliminary refusal is subject to the Government’s appraisal of Europa’s environmental screening and is dependent on whether the Secretary of State requests further details, and could mean the application returns to the planning committee.
Europa CEO William Holland says his company will appeal the decision and that he felt “confident” about winning.
This is an occasion where the Government really needs to read the room. It isn’t a case of nimbyism. People from across Yorkshire have joined in the protests because they fear for the impact that any type of fracking will have on the region’s environment.
We have already seen the devastation caused by Yorkshire Water’s failures to the region’s waterways. Some experts have warned that pollutants and chemicals from the proppant squeezing will find new pathways through the fracked rocks into the aquifers that the region depends on for drinking water.
Yorkshire is a special place. The natural beauty and tranquillity that large parts of this county offer are worth protecting. Fracking of any sort would put that at risk.
I remember early on in my career as a business reporter, I met a hedge fund manager who had travelled up from the South for an event. During the interview with him, his pitch was for Yorkshire to welcome fracking. He suggested embedding fracking projects in a way that would not be noticed by the public citing examples of golf courses in America doing just that.
To me, it just illustrated a lack of understanding of Yorkshire folk and this region’s great landscape. For people here it’s about more than just aesthetic, they care about what’s on their doorstep. It’s a matter of great pride.
It’s time for the Government to put this debate to bed by closing all loopholes in the ban on fracking. Not only will they be doing people in villages like Burniston a favour but also providing gas companies clarity as to what is and isn’t acceptable in Britain.
Yes, there is an energy crisis but the reality is that fracking is not going to see ordinary people’s bills come down anytime soon.
As Professor Chris Garforth of Frack Free Coastal Communities, who was amongst the public speakers at the council meeting opposed to the Europa scheme, says “Gas from North Yorkshire will not bring lower prices, because gas from here may well be exported.”
Reforming the wholesale energy market and unhitching electricity prices from gas is the only way that Britain will be able to protect itself from energy price shocks. It won’t be easy to do but what else is Government there for?