JUDGED on a purely emotional level, the decision to allow fracking in Ryedale, so close to the North York Moors, will come as a massive blow to residents.

It will be scant consolation to people living nearby that North Yorkshire county councillors took several days to reach their decision.

But now the decision has been made the planners have another important job: to get the fine print right, and not just for the sake of folk living in the village of Kirby Misperton.

As the first hydraulic fracturing project to get the go-ahead since 2011, the entire fracking industry will be waiting to see what restrictions are imposed on Third Energy.

How will planners deal with concerns about visual amenity and greatly increased traffic? More importantly, what will they do to prevent pollution?

Prospectors poised to follow in Third Energy’s wake will amend their applications in the light of yesterday’s decision, so the council needs to draw a line with suitably tough safeguards.

Although some countries, most notably the United States, have embraced fracking, in the UK the technique is still new and mysterious, despite Third Energy’s best attempts to mollify the suspicions of residents and environmentalists. An abject failure to make the PR case for fracking has allowed an undercurrent of fear to develop.

Supporters say fracking will create thousands of new jobs and give the UK gas security.

Critics claim the industry has downplayed the pollution threat, while residents fear commercial exploitation will ruin their picturesque part of North Yorkshire and the tourism industry which supports it.

Third Energy insists people have nothing to fear and says its plans do not pose a threat to the environment.

You can be sure The Northern Echo will hold the company to account and make sure it keeps its promises.