Anti-fracking residents from Burniston, Scarborough, organised a demonstration at North Yorkshire Council’s full meeting on Wednesday, November 13.

Susanne Robinson, who lives just a few hundred metres away from the site proposed by Europa Oil & Gas for a proppant squeeze or fracking project to explore for gas on North Yorkshire’s heritage coast, was one of dozens of locals who gathered at County Hall in Northallerton to make their views known.

Residents from Burniston in Scarborough, where a 30m high derrick for the testing is proposed, were joined by activists from East Yorkshire ahead of the full meeting of North Yorkshire Council.

Ms Robinson, who lives “very, very close” to the proposed site, said she feared the impacts of “noise, light pollution, toxic gas smells” and how it would affect the nearby Cinder Track and North York Moors National Park.

Europa has said that “no one’s going to notice” due to the “small volume” of the scheme and has sought to alleviate local concerns alongside the promise of economic benefits were the project to proceed.

Despite political opposition from local Labour MP Alison Hume and North Yorkshire’s elected mayor David Skaith, in November the Government ruled that the company would not have to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) alongside a planning application, contrary to the council’s ruling.

When the Local Democracy Reporting Service raised the issue with Europa’s CEO William Holland, in September, he said that the company would not apply for an exemption to the EIA.

At NYC’s full meeting on Wednesday, leader of the authority, Coun Carl Les, reiterated Europa’s promise to still submit an environmental assessment, but concerns were raised by members about the nature of that assessment.

Fracking campaigner, Coun Steve Mason, told the meeting that “the Government’s decision could significantly change the planning time needed to assess the application,” and asked whether the authority would challenge the decision.

He also called on NYC to ensure that “appropriate timescales are given for the community to respond”.

Leader, Coun Les, said that an appeal by the council would be limited to a judicial review of the decision-making procedures and “that would be a difficult argument to pursue”.

He added that residents would have an opportunity to comment as “standard procedure”.

Chris Garforth, a member of the Frack Free Coastal Communities Group, also attended the demonstration outside the council HQ to “make sure that all the councillors are aware of the plans” and said he had received “an extremely positive reaction”.

He added: “What we need to do is make sure the planners are aware of their legal responsibilities to take into account all the potential downstream environmental impacts of the gas that could eventually be produced from underneath Burniston, Cloughton, and Scalby and to uphold their own very robust planning policies on hydrocarbon extraction.”