North Yorkshire Council fracking decision ruled lawful

A Hight Court ruling has ruled that North Yorkshire County Council has acted lawfully when approving a planning application by Third Energy to allow fracking the village of Kirby Misperton.

The council had approved the controversial application to frack for shale gas back in May, despite receiving 4,375 objections to the plans.

Campaigners and residents had launched legal action against the council, claiming it had failed to consider the impact fracking would have on climate change.

In a statement, the council said: “North Yorkshire County Council is grateful for the judgement of the High Court, which confirms that the planning committee gave proper regard to all material planning considerations before approving the application by Third Energy to undertake fracking for shale gas in the vicinity of Kirby Misperton.

“The county council has not sought to bring fracking to North Yorkshire. Having received this application, we had a responsibility to determine it and to apply national and local policies. We followed a statutory process, and the High Court has found that we followed it correctly and has rejected the issues raised by Friends of the Earth.”

Rasik Valand, chief executive of Third Energy, added: “The permission places a great obligation on Third Energy to prove that we can carry out the test fracs in the same safe, discreet and environmentally sensitive way that we have conducted our gas exploration and energy generation activities over the past two decades.

“We are confident that we will prove to the local community that their elected representatives were right to grant this permission.”