A DECISION on whether to allow fracking at Kirby Misperton has been delayed by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC).

The council wants more detail and clarification on issues as varied as noise pollution, lighting, traffic, fracking hours, water, landscape and local ecology.

The decision was due to be made by November 18. The new date mooted by the council is February 9, 2016.

Third Energy who is seeking permission to frack at the KM8 site confirmed it had received a letter from NYCC requesting an extension to the determination period, and is considering its response.

John Dewar, operations director at Third Energy, said the majority of the issues were are not specific to hydraulic fracturing, and had arisen as the result of responses by statutory consultees and other representations made to the planning authority.

“We appreciate that this application, and thus North Yorkshire County Council itself, is the subject of close scrutiny and public interest. But it should be remembered, that this application relates to an existing well and an existing site.

“We have drilled eight wells safely at our two Kirby Misperton sites, all of which took longer, with greater traffic movements and were more complex than the proposed fracks at KM8.”

This exploratory drilling revealed potential gas reserves in the sandstone and shale. Fracking, or ‘hydraulic fracturing’, would involve ‘stimulating’ the gas flow by ‘opening up fractures’ in the rock, using pressurised water.

A spokesperson for Frack Free Ryedale, which is opposing Third Energy’s plans, said: “It is not surprising that the NYCC has been forced to ask Third Energy for further information, given that the company’s application is so full of holes and lacks clarity in key areas such as noise, traffic, water, wildlife protection and landscape.

“The numerous problems raised by the council calls into question Third Energy’s ability to perform this test-frack successfully, and will only increase the concerns of local people, the vast majority of whom are united in fighting this development.”