A COMPANY’S application to carry out fracking in North Yorkshire has now been validated by North Yorkshire County Council, after two failed previous attempts.

An application from Third Energy, to carry out test fracking at Kirby Misperton, near Flamingo Land in Ryedale, has been validated by the local authority, which will now begin preparing a report on the application.

The bid, by Third Energy, failed the validation process on two previous occasions, after omitting key information.

The first application was rejected because of a catalogue of errors, such as failing to consider the effect on the 1.5m annual visitors to nearby Flamingo Land and containing out-of-date maps, which did not include a nearby caravan park used by holidaymakers. It also failed to mention details such as the volume of gas it expected to extract or the expected life of the well.

Third Energy says its latest application meets all the council’s requirements in the required formats and it will now undergo a period of public consultation before planning officers compile a report to go before the county council’s planning committee.

The company says the entire test project should take no more than six weeks and a maximum of 4,000 cubic metres of water will be used for the total operation, less than the volume of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

It says the additives used in the fracking fluid are non-hazardous to groundwater and that hydraulic fracturing will only take place in daylight hours.