Villagers in North Yorkshire have agreed to spend more money in their campaign against gas drilling and a form of fracking at Burniston, near Scarborough.

Nearly 200 people attended a meeting, organised by Frack Free Coastal Communities (FFCC), to discuss the next phase of the campaign against a planning application by Europa Oil & Gas.

More than 1,400 people have formally objected to the scheme. Analysis by DrillOrDrop showed they represented more than 99% of public comments to a consultation by North Yorkshire Council.

Last night’s meeting agreed to spend up to £2,750 to help FFCC oppose the application. The money would fund:

• liaison with North Yorkshire Council
• representation of FFCC at the meeting where the application is decided
• preparation of additional responses if Europa submits extra information

FFCC said it was committed to giving North Yorkshire councillors information to encourage them to refuse the planning application.

A spokesperson for the group said:

“A big challenge for the campaign in the weeks, possibly months, before the planning committee meets to make its decision, is to ensure that committee members – and the wider body of North Yorkshire Council members – are fully aware of the shortcomings of the proposals and of the strength, passion and rationale of objections.”

FFCC said planning and traffic reports it had commissioned concluded that Europa’s application failed to comply with several national and regional planning policies.

The group urged villagers to do five tasks to help the campaign: spread the word; share a parliamentary petition to ban small-scale fracking; attend the planning committee meeting (date to be fixed); join the FFCC action network and donate to campaign funds.

The meeting also heard that the Environment Agency had recommended refusal of the plans (see our article here) because of “an unacceptable risk to groundwater quality”. But the local water company said in its response: “no observation comments are required from Yorkshire Water”.