No 38 - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCILLORS VOTE TO REJECT EUROPA FRACKING APPLICATION

Congratulations to all our fellow campaigners for a wonderful result at the planning meeting yesterday! Today is a day for huge celebration. But read below - it isnt over yet!

Drill or Drop reported on the lobby before and during the meeting. The lobby was fun and good natured with hundreds of people, lots of great speakers and plenty of media interest.

Drill or Drop then reported on the meeting itself. Speakers opposing the meeting were Prof. Chris Garforth (FFCC), Cllr Helen Bore (N&STC), Cllr Karen Fanthorpe (CPC), Cllr Richard Parsons (BPC), Cllr Derek Bastiman (NYC), Cllr Steve Mason (NYC) and Cllr Rich Maws (NYC and STC). They gave compelling reasons why the proposal should be rejected. There followed 4 speakers for Europa - who spoke about 'Yorkshire Gas for Yorkshire People' and how various people liked and didn't notice the installations in Broughton and Wrestle. Amy Taylor then went through the detail of the report and the councillors could then ask questions of the planners. After the questions there was a debate followed by a vote.

Finally, Drill or Drop reported on the reaction of all the parties to the result including Chris Garforth, and a joint statement by FFCC and FFS.

There are lots of reports in the press and on TV. Here is a feature by Sky News and here is one by York Press and The Scarborough News

GALLERY

SMALL PRINT!!

Against all expectations, we have won the battle against Europa Oil and Gas in Burniston! NYC voted 11 out of 12 (the last guy was told he had to abstain as he was mostly sleeping) against the proposal in a meeting that was nearly 5 hours long. They went against the recommendation of the planning officers.

This is the detailed situation – its never easy!

A few days before the meeting, Friends of the Earth sent a request to the Secretary of State to decide if a new Environmental Screening was required. The reason for the request was there had been various additions to the planning application (scope creep) since the SoS's last judgement that an EIA was not required (about 18 months ago).

So the council – knowing there may now be a new EIA, decided they would still go ahead with their meeting – but could agree a ‘minded to’ decision which could later change depending on what the SoS decided. They voted they were ‘minded to’ refuse the application.

If the SoS says an Environmental Impact Assessment is not required – the refuse decision will be final and not a ‘minded to’ decision.

If the SoS says an Environmental Impact Assessment is required – Europa must then provide one, and (perhaps several months) further down the line the council will look at changes/additions to the existing EIA. There would then be a decision on these - without having to discuss what was already agreed on.

In the meantime, Europa has said they will be appealing immediately against the decision – so that might also throw a spanner in the works. If the appeal is accepted there will be another process.

We really don’t know how the SoS Environmental Screening decision or the ‘minded to’ decision will affect the timing of the appeal.

So in simple terms – we don’t really know if we have won the war or not, but we have won a huge battle.

In terms of fundraising - we have to wait and see. We know we have to pay our consultant planner for the invaluable work she has done, We are also possibly going to bring a case to the Ombudsman about the planning process, We could then be involved in a judicial review or an appeal by Europa. But we will continue with the fun things we have already organised.

NEXT EVENT :

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY WITH THE OLD SCHOOL BAND!

Buy Tickets here

Other Dates for your Diary:

JUNE 26 7pm - RETURN OF OUR POPULAR QUIZ NIGHT

SEP 18 7pm - FASHION SHOW featuring "models" from the fund raising committee.

OCT 3 - PROMISES AUCTION!

All at Burniston and Cloughton Village Hall

WHO ARE FFCC - Frack Free Costal Communities?

We are a local group, who have been campaigning regionally and nationally, from the villages on the North Yorkshire Heritage coast including Burniston, Cloughton, Scalby, Staintondale and Ravenscar. We want to protect our beautiful heritage coastline from industrialisation and the irreversible damage to our local environment, and the wider climate that Europa’s ‘Proppant squeeze’ (fracking) would cause. We believe the use of fossil fuels are destroying our planet and fracking should be banned in all forms.

We need to spread the message further. We would love to hear from any environmental organisations with national reach who might be able to help us spread the message nationwide

WHAT IS FRACKING - AND WHY IS ALL ON SHORE FRACKING NOT BANNED NOW?

Fracking is short for Hydraulic Fracturing. Hydraulic Fracturing is a process that uses fluids to fracture rocks. Lower volume fracturing is not prevented by the moratorium on associated hydraulic fracturing, which was introduced in 2019. The moratorium affects only operations using more than 1,000m3 of fluid per fracturing stage or 10,000m3 in total. This volume is more than was used in Lancashire causing earthquakes which damaged properties and resulted in the moratorium! Opponents have described this as a loophole in the law and called for a wider ban to include lower volume fracking. This planning application by Europa, if approved, will set a precedent for the many applications waiting in the wings. The government has replied to a parliamentary petition to ban 'small scale fracking' saying “the government recognises concerns from local communities regarding low volume fracturing and the fact that it is currently treated differently, and is therefore currently reviewing the position with regard to low volume hydraulic fracturing.” In the 2025 Labour Conference, Ed Milliband said (as reported by Drill or Drop) “I say let’s ban fracking and send this bunch of frackers packing too”.

Thank you for your support

Clare from Frack Free Coastal Communities

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