The decision on controversial plans to drill for gas and carry out lower volume fracking near the North York Moors National Park should be delayed, a council was urged today.

The campaign organisation, Friends of the Earth, told North Yorkshire Council it should postpone the decision on the Burniston gas scheme because of proposed changes to national planning policy.

The government published draft changes last week to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which shapes planning decisions in England. The changes suggest a more restrictive approach to new fossil fuel projects.

If adopted, the changes could have major implications for new onshore oil and gas proposals, Friends of the Earth said.

There have been more than 1,500 formal objections to the Burniston planning application by Europa Oil & Gas.

The scheme includes a proppant squeeze, a lower volume form of fracking, that is not covered by the current moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.

Local and national campaigners have called for this loophole to be closed since the moratorium was introduced in 2019.

Comments by the energy minister, earlier this month, suggested that the government would not ban lower volume fracking operations.

But the changes to the NPPF, proposed by the local government department, remove the requirement for decisionmakers to give “great weight” to the economic benefits of onshore oil and gas developments when considering planning applications.

This policy has previously tilted the planning system in favour of approving fossil fuel projects and made it harder to communities to oppose them successfully.

The proposed changes signal the need to transition away from fossil fuels as part of the UK’s response to climate change.

Friends of the Earth has welcomed the move.

The organisation’s senior lawyer, Katie de Kauwe, said:

“For too long fossil fuel projects have received preferential treatment in the planning system. The proposed changes, which help redress this imbalance and recognise the urgent need to transition to cleaner energy production, are welcome.

“The removal of language that gives “great weight” to fossil fuel projects could fundamentally change things, including for the Burniston fracking project which relies heavily on this requirement in its application for planning permission.

“Given the potential significance of these amendments, we believe it’s only right they’re factored into North Yorkshire Council’s thinking and that it delays the decision until the government finalises its national planning policy.” 

Changes to the NPPF are now out for public consultation until 10 March 2026.

North Yorkshire Council has not announced when it expects to decide the Burniston application. But it could be early next year.

Friends of the Earth said a delay until the government has updated planning legislation would provide legal certainty and ensure the application was determined under the correct policy framework.

It described the likely delay as “modest” and in the public interest. It would also be reasonable for the developer, given the policy changes, Friends of the Earth said.

If the council chose to determine the application before the NPPF was finalised, it should give substantial weight to the draft policy changes, the organisation added.

• North Yorkshire Council is also due to decide another gas application, by Egdon Resources, at Foxholes.