East Yorkshire this afternoon unanimously opposed fracking in the county.

In a recorded vote of the full council, all 58 members present supported a motion against fracturing plans at one of the West Newton oil and gas sites.

The vote included all attending Conservatives, the largest group on the council, and Reform UK councillors.

There were no abstentions or votes against the motion and no speeches supporting fracking.

This was East Yorkshire Council’s second vote against fracking. In 2022, members voted by 49 votes to reinforce the county’s opposition to fracking. In that debate, there were six abstentions and none against.

Today’s motion, proposed by the Green Group’s Cllr Andy Walker, followed Environment Agency approval of a lower-volume hydraulic fracture at the West Newton-A site in Holderness.

Regulators are now considering a hydraulic fracturing plan, submitted by the site operator, Rathlin Energy, for what has been described as a “reservoir stimulation”.

The motion called for an independent report on the safety and risks associated with the West Newton operation. It also said the council should write to the:

• North Sea Transition Authority to clarify East Yorkshire’s opposition to fracking
• Energy security secretary to speed up government legislation to outlaw fracking

Cllr Walker told the meeting:

“It may be called a well stimulation or a proppant squeeze. But if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, … this is fracking.”

He said the pressure proposed for fracking the West Newton A-2 well would be greater than that used by Cuadrilla at the Preston New Road site in Lancashire. Those operations caused a series of earthquakes and led to a moratorium in 2019 on higher volume fracking in England.

“Too great a risk”

Cllr Walker said the effect of pollution of the drinking water aquifer by fracking at West Newton would be “catastrophic”.

“There is simply no remedy. We cannot put it right. To me, that risk is unacceptable.”

He added:

“All the serious risk here is being carried by the community.”

“By that, I actually mean us”.

He said:

“The council holds no financial bond for this development. If it were to go very wrong and if all individuals just walked away, then exactly who will end up facing an unlimited bill to restore this land to safe and useful? It’s us.”

Cllr Walker also said “the vast majority” of oil-based fluid used in the fracturing operation would remain underground. As a result, Rathlin Energy had to apply for a separate permit for a waste storage facility.

“The size of the facility has increased more than threefold since it was first planned”, Cllr Walker said.

He described this as “our little legacy gift for future generations”.

“Not too late to intervene”

Cllr Steve Gallant (Labour), who seconded the motion, described the West Newton operation as “essentially fracking by another name and it comes with all the same risks”.

He said the arguments against fracking had not changed since the council last debating the issue, four years ago.

He added that the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) had not yet approved the West Newton operation “so it’s not too late to try and intervene”.

He said:

“Even if oil is found at West Newton, it would not benefit our residents, one iota. It would be sold on the open market.”

“Fed up with Rathlin Energy”

Cllr John Holtby (Conservative), whose division includes West Newton, said:

“The people of mid Holderness have got absolutely fed up, over the past 10 years, with Rathlin Energy.”

He said work at the company’s two sites in the area was “in the background all the time”. He said residents had been “very keen” that councillors voted against fracking four years ago. He added:

“Rathlin are intended to do this project because they want to sell the sites. So they want to see if there is any available oil there. They’ve been pretty disappointed with the way they’ve done it so far. They haven’t got the results.

“So this is the sort of last throw of the dice but if someone buys it, they will probably go at it much harder.”

Cllr Dale Needham (Lib Dem) said the West Newton fracturing potentially risked groundwater contamination, depletion of local water resources, air pollution, earthquakes, public health impacts and local land disruption, destroying habitats. He said:

“Local residents would pay multiple times for a most negative impact on our local environment”.

“Not appropriate”

Cllr Denis Healy (Lib Dem) said the West Newton fracking operation was “not appropriate for an area like ours”:

“communities, don’t want it, geologists and the regulators are cautious about it. And here, in the East Riding, this Council has opposed it because the risk is simply too great.”

He also said:

“It’s important, I think, to make our position unambiguous.

“Regulators do need to understand that local councils, which are the bodies closest to residents, are not passive observers in any of this. We have a duty to advocate for our communities, for our environment, and for the long-term well-being of our region.”

He said the full West Newton hydraulic fracturing plan should be published before any authorisation was considered.

“Local residents deserve to know exactly what is being proposed under their homes and their fields.”

“Local voices matter”

Cllr Philip Redshaw (Lib Dem) said:

“We can send a clear message to national regulators and government that local voices matter. Writing to the North Sea Transition Authority and the secretary of state will ensure that our concerns are heard where decisions are made.”

He added:

“Our residents deserve absolute confidence in the safety and independent transparent assessment of the risks at West Newton. This is not an obstacle to progress. It’s a basic duty of care”

Other comments

Cllr Jon Dimberline (Reform UK) said his party did not “completely buy the whole net zero thing”. But he said his group would support the motion.

Cllr Nigel Wilkinson (Conservative) said 88% of residents in East Yorkshire drove petrol or diesel cars so fossil fuels were still needed. He said it was better to extract hydrocarbons from the North Sea, rather than import them. But he supported the motion on West Newton.

Cllr Tim Norman (Green) said fossil fuels at West Newton should stay underground. He said:

“We must be pulling away from our entire dependence on fossil fuels and move further towards renewables”.

Chalk streams

The council also unanimously approved another motion, which sought to improve protection of rare chalk streams.

The motion, proposed by Cllr Redshaw, said chalk streams, including those in the River Hull system, should become UNESCO world heritage sites.

It also urged the government to strengthen national protections for chalk streams and committed the council to working with partners to support conservation, monitoring and public engagement across the network of chalk streams in Yorkshire.

The debate referred several times to the Gypsy Race, a chalk stream in East and North Yorkshire, which is close to a proposed exploration site at Foxholes. Egdon Resources has applied for planning permission to North Yorkshire Council to drill for gas. Opponents are concerned that the stream and chalk aquifer would be at risk of contamination.