Europa boss says company ‘helping residents understand what’s involved’ as parish councils vote against gas rig near Scarborough

This week, Newby and Scalby Town Council also voted to oppose the application for a 98ft (30m) tall drilling rig on land in Burniston, near Scarborough, as part of a “proppant squeeze” project.

Both parish councils raised similar concerns about the proposal, including impacts on the coastal landscape and farmland, water table, seismic activity and traffic increases.

William Holland, CEO of Europa Oil & Gas, said the firm recognised that “some local residents are concerned about our plans and we are actively listening to the feedback that we receive”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: “Most of the local residents are not familiar with gas drilling operations, so we are actively helping them understand what is involved, including the involvement of the world-class regulatory process that the UK benefits from.”

He added that as part of the planning process, 13 independent specialists had submitted reports to support the application.

More than 1,300 objections have been submitted on the council’s planning website, alongside rallies and marches against the plan that have been organised by local groups.

At Burniston Parish Council’s meeting last week, around 70 locals attended and many shared their concerns publicly about lighting, noise, pollution, traffic increases and impacts on the highways, potential seismic activity and impacts on tourism and the local economy.

Local resident Colin Godfrey said: “I’ve looked at the various presentations and I still don’t see any benefit whatsoever to our communities, the community at large, and I think nationally, particularly in terms of our drive to reduce our effect on the climate.”

Speaking to the LDRS, Mr Holland said: “None of the independent specialists have identified any issues with our proposed drilling plans, which included:

“There will be no impact on the cliffs along the heritage coast.

“Visually there will be no impact (the drilling rig will only be there for 35 days) as it will be out of sight.

“The worst-case scenario on pollution has been deemed to be insignificant.

“The water table will not be impacted.

“HGV traffic will only increase by one per cent during the operation.”

He added: “The independent experts who have reviewed the impact of the operation all conclude that it will be minimal.”

Plans submitted by the company estimate more than 1,100 HGV movements overall, which could include up to 18 HGVs a day.

The site lies 350m to the east of Burniston village and 700m southwest of the coastline.

Last year, North Yorkshire Council said that the proposed development was “likely to give rise to significant effects on the environment, notably in respect of land and visual, transport and access and cumulative effects” and decreed that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would have to be submitted.

Europa Oil & Gas applied for an EIA exemption from the Government, which was successful because if permitted, the rig would be in place for five weeks. Europa decided to voluntarily provide an Environmental Statement.

However, the Secretary of State also noted that “the drilling rig would be highly visible from the heritage coast and have an adverse impact on the area”.