Councillors in the North Yorkshire village of Burniston said today they would continue to stand by their community in the face of an appeal over gas drilling and lower-volume fracking.

The company behind the scheme, Europa Oil & Gas, gave notice earlier this week that it would challenge the refusal of its planning application. It informed the stock market yesterday.

In a joint statement, Burniston Parish Council and the area’s North Yorkshire councillor, Derek Bastiman, said:

“Although the intention to appeal comes as no surprise, we are somewhat concerned that EOG [Europa Oil & Gas] have not listened in any way to the serious concerns that over 1,600 people expressed during the planning process.

“If it is possible to find a suitable, safe place for fracking and the underground dumping of chemicals, so close to where people live, we would be very surprised. We can say with great certainty, it is not here.”

The statement, signed by the parish council chair, Cllr Richard Parsons, and Cllr Bastiman, said the refusal of the planning application by North Yorkshire Council in May 2026 was “clear and absolute”.

It added:

“No-one, including Europa Oil and Gas ltd, were left in any doubt as to why the application was refused.”

North Yorkshire’s planning committee rejected the application on five grounds, despite a recommendation from officials to approve. The grounds for refusal were:

• Harm to the heritage coast and landscape
• Proximity to homes and impact on amenity
• Harm to the setting of the North York Moors
• Impact on tourism and lack of economic gain
• Conflict with council climate commitments

The statement added:

“The objections to this application were overwhelming and were clearly listened to by the Planning Committee. The words that were submitted were clear, they were accurate and they were precise. Many mistakes and missing information in the application were exposed. The planning committee listened, understood and delivered their decision in the most decisive manner.”

Cllr Parsons said:

“Cllr. Bastiman, myself and Burniston Parish Council stand absolutely alongside our community as a whole. We will continue to ensure that the voices of our communities are heard. We will continue to represent those voices. We listen to, understand and agree with the views of our community and the wider community. They reject the application in its entirety for all the right reasons.

“Nothing has changed, the refused application is still the same, the grounds for refusal remain as valid today, as they were six months ago. We expect the planning inspector, even if the request to hear this appeal is granted, to support the decision of the planning committee.

“The application was for a fracking process that has been shown to be far from safe. This is the wrong project, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.”

The statement said the parish council had been notified about the appeal “in what appears to be a rather unconventional manner”:

“No formal notice appears to have been received, just a laminated card attached to a public noticeboard in Burniston Village, by Europa Oil and Gas Ltd informing of the appeal and requiring ‘representations about this appeal’ by November 25th 2026.”

The Planning Inspectorate (PINS), which handles planning appeals, told DrillOrDrop that Europa’s notice, was part of a formal procedure, known as DMPO (Development Management Procedure Order) 2015.

This requires appellants to give 21 days’ notice of the appeal to any owners or tenants of the site.

The appeal will then be submitted to PINS, where it will be validated.

PINS will set out a timetable for the appeal process.

The local planning authority, North Yorkshire Council, must then notify all interested parties about the appeal and give them a deadline in which to submit written representations.

That date has not been set and is separate from the 21-day deadline mentioned on Europa’s notice.