Bid to overturn fracking in Yorkshire dismissed

A bid to overturn a fracking project in North Yorkshire has been dismissed. Fossil fuel firm Third Energy was granted permission earlier this year to frack just a quarter of the mile from the […]

A bid to overturn a fracking project in North Yorkshire has been dismissed.

Fossil fuel firm Third Energy was granted permission earlier this year to frack just a quarter of the mile from the village of Kirby Misperton, a decision that was met with anger from local residents.

A number of these residents teamed up with Friends of the Earth to challenge the decision by taking North Yorkshire County Council to the Royal Courts of Justice. They were ultimately defeated in the landmark case.

They argued that the council had not properly taken the full environmental impact of fracking into account and said there was not enough financial protection in place to protect local people that could be affected.

Mrs Justice Lang ruled that Third Energy had adequately considered climate change issues.

Friends of the Earth were ordered to pay £10,000 in legal costs and two local campaigners had to pay £5,000. They vowed to continue opposing fracking in Yorkshire.

Donna Hume, Friends of the Earth campaigner, said: “The high court has ruled that fracking can go ahead in beautiful Yorkshire and we must rise to this latest challenge. The judge found that North Yorkshire Councillors had assessed the impacts of climate change.

“But we know that climate change was barely mentioned at that crucial council meeting where the decision to allow fracking was taken and more damningly, that councillors didn’t have the information about the total carbon emissions produced from the fracking project.”

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