AN application to carry out fracking in a Ryedale village has been validated by North Yorkshire County Council after failing to pass the initial validation procedure twice before.

The application by Third Energy is to hydraulically fracture five zones at the company’s KM8 well site in Kirby Misperton. If the application is granted and the test fracks successful, gas would be produced from one or more of the tested formations and then sent to the company’s generating station at Knapton.

The application, which is several thousand pages long, has taken about seven months to complete as studies were commissioned for reports on factors including air quality, water, noise and traffic.

The application now meets the council’s requirements in the required format and will move forward to the public consultation stage before planning officers make a recommendation to the planning committee.

John Dewar, operations director at Third Energy, said that he was pleased that the project had reached another milestone and said he was prepared for the application to come under scrutiny from members of the public.

He said: “Our application for operations at the existing KM8 well at Kirby Misperton will receive more scrutiny because of the high public interest.

“However, operations will be for a shorter duration and involve less noise and less traffic than many of the wells we have already drilled and completed safely in the area.”

Mr Dewar said that Third Energy’s door was open for people to come and ask any questions they may have about the fracking process which he says would last just a few hours.

He said: “The fracking process itself only lasts for a few hours and then the well will perform in exactly the same way as our existing wells which have operated safely and unnoticed for the last two decades.

“We are confident we can deliver this project discreetly, safely and with minimum environmental impact.”

Concerns have been raised regarding fracking in the area and the subsequent application by local campaigners group Frack Free Ryedale.

Chris Redston of the group said: “Frack Free Ryedale will be strongly objecting to this proposal, as will many thousands of local residents who oppose fracking in the area, as well as many others who visit North Yorkshire on holiday. More and more People are becoming aware of the threat that fracking poses to Ryedale’s core businesses of tourism and agriculture, as well as its water supply, public health, wildlife and peaceful day-to-day life." in the area.”

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: “The planning application by Third Energy relating to ‘fracking’ at Kirby Misperton has now been validated. At this stage, it is impossible to give you any meaningful guidance on the timescale for processing the application.”

Details of the application can be viewed at onlineplanningregister.northyorks.gov.uk/register/PlanAppDisp.aspx?recno=9761