The High Court in London has just ruled on the landmark case in which local campaigners from North Yorkshire took their county council to court over fracking - Mrs Justice Lang at the Royal Courts of Justice in London has dismissed their substantive claim for judicial review.

Residents from Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, North Yorkshire joined forces with Friends of the Earth to challenge a planning decision to allow hydraulic fracturing near their homes, in a bid to overturn one of the first planning applications to carry out fracking in England.

The judicial review, brought by Jackie Cray, David Davis and Friends of the Earth challenged whether Yorkshire County Council properly took into account the full impact that fracking could have on climate change and had adequate financial protection for local residents against potential long-term environmental damage caused by fracking.

Fracking company Third Energy was granted permission by North Yorkshire County Council in May 2016 to frack a quarter of a mile from Jackie Cray's home in the village of Kirby Misperton -  aspects of the decision were challenged by this judicial review.

At the meeting North Yorkshire County Council approved Third Energy’s planning application to carry out hydraulic fracturing at Kirby Misperyon despite receiving 4,375 objections and only 36 letters in support.

The judicial review was heard on 22nd and 23rd November at the Royal Court of Justice in London.

This morning the judge ruled that while the plaintiffs were correct that North Yorkshire County Council needed to consider climate imacts in their decision, the 'substantive claim for judicial review is dismissed' as climate change had been considered.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Donna Hume claimed the issue had 'barely been mentioned', and that the 'councillors didn't have the information about the total carbon emissions produced from the fracking project'.

Friends of the Earth were ordered to pay £10,000 costs, and the two local campaigners were ordered to pay £5,000. The local campaigners have vowed to continue opposing fracking in Yorkshire.

Responding to today's ruling, Hannah Martin, Greenpeace Energy Campaigner, said:

 "Communities like Ryedale rightly insist that county councils must fully assess risks, and will be held to account if they don’t. Fracking doesn’t make environmental or economic sense, so it’s no wonder people objected to the county council giving the thumbs up to fracking without properly considering climate change or financial security. Local government has a duty to represent their communities, and faced with so much local opposition to fracking, they should be more rigorous in scrutinising the negative impacts.”

Latest decision will be seen as further proof that regulatory system is stacked in favour of the industry

Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy at Warwick Business School commented:

"For the environmental groups and community activists this latest decision will be seen as further proof that the regulatory system is stacked in favour of the industry, as is the Government, who are willing to overturn the decisions made by locally elected politicians.”

"Community activists talk about the industry failing to gain a so-called social licence to operate. But the reality is that such a licence has no legal standing and locals have a limited voice in the planning process.”

"All they can do is challenge decisions via the courts and that does not seem to be working in their favour. Still they are determined to continue against shale gas exploration and next year will see more demonstrations and more activity in the courts. At the same time, it will also see England's first horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured shale gas well."

He added that the UK’s emergent shale gas industry may look back at 2016 as a turning point in their campaign to explore the country's shale gas potential.

This year the Communities Minister over-turned Lancashire Country Council’s decisions to refuse Cuadrilla permission to horizontally drill and fracture four wells at the Preston New Road site and has given them more time to address the traffic issues at Roseacre Wood.

While private court actions have been launched against Preston New Road, Cuadrilla is carrying on making plans to drill next year.

Finally, iGas has been granted permission to drill at Misson in Nottinghamshire and has a second application underway.

All of this activity relates to the 13 licensing round back in 2008, with another 150 onshore blocks waiting in the wings from the 14 licensing round announced last year.