Two leading councillors have supported calls for delays to the decision on plans for gas drilling and lower-volume fracking in the North Yorkshire village of Burniston.

But the company behind the scheme, Europa Oil & Gas, has said a delay is not justified.

“Don’t rush”

In a joint statement this week, the chair of Burniston Parish Council, Richard Parsons, and local county councillor Derek Bastiman said the planning hearing by North Yorkshire Council , expected soon, “must not be rushed”.

Just before Christmas, lawyers at Friends of the Earth said the Burniston decision should be delayed until a revision was agreed to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

A draft of proposed changes, published in December 2025, removed the previous requirement that decisionmakers should give “great weight” to the benefits of onshore oil and gas operations.

Cllrs Parson and Bastiman said Europa’s application for Burniston relied heavily on this “great weight” position.

They said the current NPPF “tilted towards approval” of fossil fuel projects. It made it harder for planning authorities to refuse them and easier to reduce the value of objections, the councillors said.

The government’s proposed changes would mean “equal value should be given to all submitted material”, they added.

So far, more than 1,600 formal objections have been made to Europa’s planning application.

The councillors said:

“Legal advice already obtained is clear, these changes [to the NPPF] must be taken into account, this planning hearing must not be rushed.”

They advised North Yorkshire Council against being “pushed into making a decision that the updated NPPF will not support”.

A public consultation on the NPPF revision closes on 10 March 2026.

The Burniston councillors recommended North Yorkshire should:

“Wait a short time until the updated NPPF is available to take an impartial decision on this matter. Wait until everybody, whatever their position on the planning application is, understands fully what is required.

“A short delay enables North Yorkshire Council to make its decision on a sound legal footing, which is open and transparent, knowing they have acted on up to date guidance from the NPPF and in the best interests of everyone.”

“No reason for delay”

Also this week, Europa Oil & Gas responded to Friends of the Earth’s call for a delay to the Burniston decision.

Europa accused the campaign group of applying “a highly biased and nuanced perspective” to interpretation of the draft NPPF.

It said Friends of the Earth failed to acknowledge a separate policy that gives decisionmakers a “clear presumption in favour” of approving mineral extraction plans outside settlements unless benefits would be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects.

Europa said “there are very few adverse effects associated with the proposed development at Burniston, and none that outweigh the benefits”.

The company also disagreed that the NPPF revision would change the planning balance for the Burniston application.

It said:

“the planning balance remains firmly in favour of granting planning permission for this development”.

It added:

“There is no justification for delaying this planning application until the final version of the NPPF is published. …

“When considering proposals, local planning authorities should issue timely decisions. The draft NPPF is not a reason to delay decision-making; after all, one of the main reasons for the Government making these policy changes is to support the commercial development needed to drive growth.”

• Burniston campaigners have urged residents to support the Friends of the Earth letter on delaying the decision. They have also called on North Yorkshire Council to hold the decision meeting at Scarborough Spa. No date or venue has yet been publicly announced. North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of community development, Nic Harne, told The Scarborough website: “We recognise the significant public interest in this particular planning application.A date has not yet been set for the application to be heard by members of the strategic planning committee.  However, this date will be made public once it has been confirmed.”