THE company planning to build a billion pound mine in North Yorkshire says it will address the "relatively few" issue surrounding its planning application in the new year.

Sirius Minerals has released an update on its planning application to build a potash mine at Sneaton, near Whitby, as it looks to export minerals underneath the North York Moors as plant fertiliser.

In an update on the planning process, the company has said any objections to the planning application, submitted to the North York Moors National Park Authority in September, will be addressed via a new report in January.

York Potash said it believes the "very few" objections to the plans can be "resolved positively", and will be providing a SEI (supplementary environmental issues) report in the new year.

Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of Sirius, said: "The submission of responses from the statutory consultation process is an important milestone for the applications.

"The local authority consultation process has identified a number of focussed issues that the company wishes to clarify and provide additional information on.

“The company is working with its various consultants to provide all of this information in January 2015.

"We would like to thank everyone that has participated so far in the process. The ongoing support for the project from the community and so many other stakeholders is very much welcomed."

The York Potash project has received public support from the region's Local Enterprise Partnerships, cross party MPs, parish councils and economic bodies, with 96 per cent of the 550 public comments posted in response to the application being in support of the plans.

However the proposals have also been met with a number of objections.

The Environment Agency has submitted one objection, based on the proposed means of foul water disposal during the operation of the mine.

Sirius says its consultants had already been working on this issue and believe that a simple solution proposed will lead to this objection being withdrawn.

Natural England objects to the visual impact of construction phase, but noted “considerable efforts that York Potash and their consultants have made to design a scheme with high quality landscape mitigation that might be accommodated in the National Park.”

Elsewhere Cleveland Potash Limited, which operates the Boulby potash mine has objected on the basis of potential impact on its workforce and has requested physical separation between the two operations; The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has maintained its objection to the application on the grounds of potential impact on the wildlife, habitats and landscape of the North York Moors, while the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds maintains its objection to the application, which primarily focuses on the potential for noise disturbance, and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (Coastal Branch) objects because it believes the application is contrary to local and national policies.