North Yorkshire Council has said it is not planning on delaying a decision on proposals for a gas drilling rig near Scarborough.
Residents and Scarborough and Whitby’s MP have called on the authority to delay debating Europa Oil & Gas’ plan to install a 38m tall drilling rig on land in Burniston, near Scarborough.
It comes as planning officers have recommended approval of the plans despite more than 1,500 objections.
However, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council said the application is due to be heard by members of its strategic planning committee on Friday, January 30 “as it is ready from a technical perspective.”
The spokesperson stated that the authority is required to deal with applications in a timely manner, as set out by government regulations, and failure to do so could “allow grounds for the applicant to appeal, which could in turn lead to substantial costs to the taxpayer”.
The oil and gas company behind the plan, which proposes using a controversial “proppant squeeze” method to extract the gas, has said there is “no justification for delaying a decision on the application”.
The firm has said the site, near the North York Moors National Park, is a “potentially significant gas resource” and, if further approvals were granted, extraction could take place for “about 20 years”.
Alison Hume, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said it would be “incredibly helpful if North Yorkshire Council could pause the decision-making process on Europa Oil and Gas’s proposed proppant‑squeeze in Burniston”.
The NYC spokesperson added that all the representations that had been submitted would be taken into consideration by members of the committee before a decision was made.
It would be inappropriate to comment further on a live planning application, they added.
A spokesperson for Europa Oil & Gas said: “We are pleased to receive a positive recommendation from the council’s planning team regarding our plans for the well in Burniston, and hope that the planning committee members will now support the expert recommendation made following a very thorough process.”
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