CAMPAIGNERS battling plans to launch numerous fracking operations in North Yorkshire have voiced fury after MPs voted in favour of allowing the controversial gas production method under national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Opposition politicians, environmental and residents groups said the 298 to 261 House of Commons vote to allow energy firms to drill beneath the North York Moors, Roseberry Topping and the Howardian Hills area of outstanding natural beauty could have a "disastrous impact".

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the government had shown a "complete lack of regard for protecting some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK and its wildlife", while shadow energy and climate secretary Lisa Nandy called for a moratorium on fracking until it was proven safe.

They also accused the government of "sneaking the move through a parliamentary back door" with no debate in the Commons and the regulations being passed after a deferred vote away from the main proceedings.

Fracking, a technique where a high-pressure water, sand and chemical mixture is directed at the rock deep underground, will only be allowed 1,200m below national parks, with drilling taking place from outside the protected areas.

Similar protection is not afforded to sites of special scientific interest and other wildlife conservation sites by the plan.

Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake and Richmond MP Rishi Sunak, whose constituencies include a large section of the North York Moors National Park, voted in favour of allowing fracking underneath the ecologically sensitive area.

Mr Hollinrake said he had been assured by experts about the safety of well-regulated fracking and by ministers about extra levels of protection.

He said visitors to the national park would not notice that fracking was taking place.

Mr Sunak said the Government had created the world's most stringent regulatory regime and it was worth exploring shale gas as a source of affordable, relatively clean and secure energy with the potential to create thousands of jobs.

He said: “The Moors and the Dales are a huge asset to our area and it's vital we protect them. I am therefore extremely glad this legislation will mean not a single well can be drilled within any of Britain's national parks."

Campaigners said the decision represented a U-turn by the Government, after it pledged an outright ban on fracking in national parks earlier this year.

David Davis, of campaign group Frack Free Ryedale, said he was dismayed protected areas could be ringed by fracking wells.

He said: "This will have a very damaging effect not only on the protected areas themselves, but also the local visitor economy." 

A Yorkshire Wildlife Trust spokesman said, despite the "very disappointing" vote, it would continue battling against fracking in ecologically sensitive areas.

North Yorkshire Moors Association chairman Tom Chadwick said the decision was a huge blow for national parks and urged the Government to consider imposing 5km buffer zones around national parks to prevent areas, such as Helmsley, becoming despoiled.

Mr Chadwick said 12 gas licence blocks, where fracking could be permitted, overlapped the national park, while 31 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves and 91 Sites of Special Scientific Interest are in licence areas across the county.


He said: "There is inevitably going to be huge pressure to carry out fracking and further gas exploration in the national park.

"The limit of 1,200m is not sufficient protection for national parks and protected areas where there is a particular sensitivity towards hydro-geological and problems and seismic activity should a fracking operation fail."