May 24 Britain’s first fracked shale gas could flow this year after local government officials in northern England approved Third Energy’s plans late on Monday to carry out fracking at an existing well.
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The North Yorkshire County Council’s (NYCC) last Friday had a consultation committee vote on the application, followed by protests from local residents and anti-fracking campaigners.
The result was greeted with boos and jeers from demonstrators, who shouted “shame on you” and “you will held be held accountable”.
He added: “Businesses will want to see speedy development of this and other shale gas sites, together with maximum environmental and community consideration, not endless appeals”.
The committee heard that North Yorkshire county council had received 4,375 letters of objection, and 36 letters in favour of the proposal, but the Conservative-dominated committee backed the proposals regardless.
The Government made public its desire for the United Kingdom to “go all out for shale” in 2014 to provide energy, boost the economy and create jobs.
“There’s no fast track [system], but we have not taken any short cut in our application”, according to Valand.
Locals had expressed fears that the fracking could damage the area’s tourist industry, contaminate water supplies, hurt wildlife, cause earthquakes and contribute to global climate change.
“North Yorkshire County Council have said Yes to unsafe fracking”.
Ken Cronin, UKOOG chief executive, said: “UKOOG welcomes the decision that has been taken today by NYCC, which helps to dispel numerous misleading claims that have been made about this application, as well as the process of hydraulic fracturing more generally”.
However, the council said it and other local councils are “required to work within the national policy framework that indigenous oil and gas remain key to energy security while facilitating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”. “The risks to people’s health and the environment are unacceptable and we will fight on”.
“The Green Party will continue to stand by local communities under threat from fracking operations and we will strongly oppose any attempts by central government to impose fracking against the will of local people”. We have conditions from both the planning authority and the Environment Agency to discharge.
Mr Sowray said that the approval of this plan would not prejudice future applications, which would be looked at on their own merit.
Ryedale District Councillor Di Keal, of Frack Free Ryedale, told BBC Radio York: “People are very down, people are very upset – there were tears yesterday”.
The U.K. may have as much as 26 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in 2013, or about nine years of the nation’s gas consumption.
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Ryedale has been earmarked by the Tory government for 19 fracking sites. “Many new people have moved into the area, houses have been built, bought, rented and sold”.
