Yorkshire villagers are meeting to discuss plans by Egdon Resources for gas drilling at Foxholes.

A series of events has been organised by Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council. The campaign group, Fossil Free Foxholes, is planning more public meetings in the area. An event is also planned for Ganton and Potter Brompton residents.

 Egdon hosted a drop-in exhibition at Foxholes in May 2025, attended by 57 people.

The company said it proposed to seek a three-year permission to drill and test a gas well on land off Butt Lane in Foxholes, between Bridlington and Malton.

No applications for planning permission or environmental permits have yet been published. But Egdon has given notice that a planning application is imminent

In the past six weeks, members of Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council have attended six events to talk to local people about the proposals.

These included an introductory two-hour meeting, attended by 87 people, intended to “take on board your comments, questions and concerns”. link to slides

MP meeting

Last weekend, the council hosted a one-hour meeting, attended by the local MP Kevin Hollinrake, North Yorkshire Councillor Janet Sanderson, and Kathryn Richardson and Paul Crawforth, of the Environment Agency.

Residents raised concerns about traffic, risks of groundwater contamination, flooding and air pollution. There were also questions about site monitoring and Environment Agency resources.

Mr Hollinrake said gas exploration was “a fact of life in Ryedale”. He said gas would be part of the UK’s energy mix for the “next few decades”. “The choice is whether we produce or import it, it’s as simple as that”, he added.

[The government’s advisor, the Climate Change Committee, said last month the UK must use low-carbon electricity to replace oil and gas in surface transport, heat in buildings and industry if it is to meet its legally-binding carbon reduction targets.]

The MP also said he understood concerns that villagers may have. “We’re here to try and allay those concerns and explain a process from here”.

The panel was asked where residents could visit an operational site in Yorkshire to understand the impact.

Mr Crawforth said there were no operational sites in North Yorkshire or the East Riding.

There were also concerns about contamination of the Gypsey Race, a winterbourne watercourse that rises in the Great Wold Valley through a series of springs and runs intermittently through villages in the Foxholes area to the sea at Bridlington.

Much of the Gypsey Race flows underground through chalk aquifers. But at times, it can be seen bubbling up in fields. In wet weather, it becomes a stream and has flooded roads. One person said if pollution got into the watercourse it would never come out.

Mr Hollinrake replied: “That’s why we have to make sure this is the right location”.

Working party

Foxholes and Butterwick Parish council has established a working party to gather information about Egdon’s plans and consult villagers.

The council said a briefing document would be submitted to the parish council to “inform thinking and decision making”. The council said:

“This is being developed from a position of neutrality, exploring both benefits and issues”

Future events

Friday 25 July 2025

Talk on Egdon’s plans, 7.30pm, Ganton Village Hall for residents of Ganton and Potter Brompton only. The publicity states “no photography or filming”. We have no details of the host organisation or any speakers.

Saturday 26 July 2025

Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council members will attend Fellas at Foxholes, 9.30am-11am, Foxholes Village Hall.

Monday 28 July 2025

Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm, Foxholes village hall, Foxholes. Guests include Cllrs Richard Parsons and Claire Topham, of Burniston Parish Council. Europa Oil & Gas has submitted applications for planning permission and environmental permits for gas exploration and lower volume fracking at Burniston in North Yorkshire

Dates and venues to be fixed

Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council – talk by a member of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Foxholes and Butterwick Parish Council – talk by Charlie Dewhirst, MP for Wold Newton

Fossil Free Foxholes – planning public meetings in villages, including Foxholes. The organisers said “all members of the public will be welcome at any of the meetings wherever they are held”.