Councillors in the North Yorkshire village of Burniston have called on the Environment Agency to reconsider its refusal to allow more time for comments on local drilling and fracking plans.

The EA told us last night it had closed the public consultation on an environmental permit – despite repeated requests for an extension to the deadline.

The parish council had now asked the EA to hold a public meeting in Burniston and extend the consultation for at least two months.

The parish council chair, Cllr Richard Parsons, told us today:

“Our request for a further public open meeting in Burniston has so far been met by a wall of silence.

“I would urge the Environment Agency to reconsider their decision and allow further time for responses and a public open meeting.”

The council, local campaigners and residents had said the EA had not allowed enough time for them to review two key documents on the permit.

The documents had been revised earlier this month following complaints about errors and inconsistencies.

The EA said yesterday people had been allowed enough time to comment on the amendments.

But some residents did not receive a letter from the EA about the changes. Others did not receive the letter until less than a week before the deadline.

Cllr Parsons said:

“The Environment Agency appears to believe that the many and substantial changes did not merit proper scrutiny.

“They appear to have decided that, in many cases, less than a week was more than sufficient for ‘interested parties’ to read, investigate and comment on those changes, despite being informed that the time given to respond in detail and with accuracy was not enough.”

He said the EA had an “overarching responsibility” to “protect and enhance the environment in England as a whole, in order to contribute to the objective of achieving sustainable development”.

He said:

“Allowing those people, who are likely to be directly affected by the proposed gas drill, hydraulic fracturing and underground waste storage, little time to respond to the changes to the EA report is not justifiable.

“The Environment Agency have left this community and the wider community with the belief that they have little or no regard for the public consultation process and equally have little or no regard for public comments.”