Approval for revised oil and gas drilling site extension

Revised plans to extend an oil and gas drilling site in East Yorkshire have been given the go-ahead despite the refusal of a previous application last year.Rathlin Energy (UK) was granted planning permission for an extension to the existing West Newton A (WNA) wellsite by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s planning committee yesterday (17 March 2022).The revised plans propose four new wells, down from six, with the site set to be 25 per cent smaller than the original application.The duration of drilling would also be reduced from 24 months to 17.5 months.The new application also includes hedge and tree planting designed to reduce the visual impact of the project.Planning permission is sought for a 25-year period.The planning committee previously refused consent for the company’s original proposal in October 2021 for reasons of visual intrusion and scale.The approval was in line with the recommendation of a planning officer’s report prepared for the meeting, as previously reported by Insider.