Latest news

Following our work over the Summer to gain people's views on geothermal energy, more than eight out of ten people who responded say they are either ‘happy’ or ‘satisfied’ with the proposal. A similar number say they’re potentially interested in using the geothermal energy.

The findings come from a survey run by Ryedale District Council during the summer, as part of the engagement programme to raise awareness of the project and seek people’s views about it.

Feasibility studies are continuing to see if natural heat can be drawn from existing deep wells in Ryedale, and provided to homes and businesses. If successful, the scheme will be the first of its kind in the UK, where wells originally drilled to extract fossil fuels will be repurposed for renewable energy.

Eleven wells owned by Third Energy, near Pickering, Kirby Misperton and in Dalby and Wykeham Forests, are being investigated. Early indications are that at least some of them could be a source of geothermal energy. The wells are thousands of feet deep, and one is known to contain water up to 80-90° Celsius.

The energy could potentially be used to heat commercial ventures like agricultural greenhouses as well as homes, by piping the hot water to properties.

In the survey, more than three quarters of people (78%) said they would be interested in signing up to a district heating scheme if it was available.

The geothermal project reflects Third Energy’s commitment to green energy and the company will not be pursuing fracking at their wells in Ryedale.

The final results of the feasibility work are expected towards the end of this year. Third Energy then intend to prepare plans for an initial geothermal project in the first part of 2023.

A summary of the engagement programme and its findings is available at https://ryedale.commonplace.is/, alongside more information about the geothermal project.

Ryedale District Council’s Climate Change Action Plan can be found at www.ryedale.gov.uk/information/community/action-on-climate-change/.

The District Council is keen to reduce the number of short-distance car journeys and replace them with journeys by active travel, whether that is by foot or other accessible means.

An active travel behaviour survey was launched in May 2022 to collect data from citizens to help inform a plan of where best to make improvements. The aim of the project is to make it easier and better for pedestrians to walk or cycle around Ryedale as part of their daily lives.

The initial survey received 141 individual responses. It revealed that citizens felt capable of walking short journeys around their local area and walked, on average, four times a week.

The main motivation for walking journeys compared to using private vehicles, was focused on the health and environmental benefits, reducing the number of vehicles on roads, and saving time by not having to park vehicles.

The survey also identified a range of barriers to active travel, ranging from existing pavements/footpaths being too narrow, not feeling safe at times, the need for more crossings and the need for better information around walking routes and green spaces.

The consultation held on Ryedale District Council’s dedicated engagement website also allowed for comments on an active travel map of Ryedale. That received 124 individual comments, with the largest number of responses from Malton, Norton, Pickering, Ebberson, and Kirby Misperton areas.

The purpose of the active travel map was to enable citizens to give more detailed feedback, highlighting areas for improvement, in addition to areas where citizens already feel supported.

Data from the active travel map showed that on average, most citizens felt their local walking routes required improvement. Key themes from the map feedback included better connectivity between footpaths, more crossings, green spaces, and clearer route information.

Now that the initial data has been collected, Officers will focus on getting more detailed information about active travel in Malton and Norton on the basis that these are the areas that had the most respondents.

A survey to identify what improvements can be made in Malton and Norton now is underway at Active Travel Survey for Malton and Norton. Citizens in Malton and Norton are encouraged to answer the short survey by Friday the 2 September 2022. The survey can be found at: https://ryedale.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/new-targeted-survey/step1

For all other areas, the initial findings will be fed into the new unitary council as key research. The information gathered can help inform teams working on improving air quality, public health and sustainable travel. It’s anticipated that more public data will be gathered to improve active travel in these areas over the longer-term.

Ends

There are now 95 people signed up to be Green Dog Walkers in Ryedale since we started a pilot of the scheme in May. Citizens have taken the scheme’s pledge here in Commonplace and at a series of in person events run by our Community Team. We also held a sign-up event in the grounds of the Council’s Head Office during Bring Your Dog to Work Day on 24 June for staff and councillors.

We have now officially launched the scheme across the wider district and will continue to promote it at special events.

Margaret Wallace, Programme Director for People and Resources at Ryedale District Council, said: “The Green Dog Walkers scheme is a fantastic community initiative to encourage responsible dog ownership.

“Unfortunately, we do receive some complaints about dog fouling in our district and this scheme is one of the ways we are tackling this issue.

“It has been really well received by our staff and the public in the pilot we have been running and we’re thrilled to now launch it across the district.”

We are planning special promotional activity around Green Dog Walkers in the autumn and will be sure to update here.

The survey asking for views on the use of geothermal energy in Ryedale has now closed.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts about the project. We will now be collating all the insights we received through the survey, events we attended and online discussions into a report which we will complete this Autumn.

What do you think about using geothermal energy in #Ryedale? Do you want to find out more or have questions or concerns?

On Wednesday 6 July we are running two events where you can find out more and ask questions about geothermal energy:

• 2.30pm at Pickering Methodist Hall

• 6.30pm at Ryedale District Council’s Council Chamber

Register your interest by emailing: info@arch-comms.co.uk.

We just wanted to thank all of you for your feedback on the project to improve signage in Malton, it has been really helpful.

The majority of feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about our proposals and your comments have helped strengthen these, which is exactly what we had hoped for.

Next, we will pull all this information together and plan in works to get the smaller scale improvements completed shortly.

We will work with North Yorkshire County Council Highways service to complete the larger scale improvements. This will take us right up until the end of Ryedale District Council, which is at the end of March 2023. After that date, we will become a single unitary local authority with other councils in North Yorkshire.

All of your time is appreciated and has been really valuable and this project will help visitors arriving in Malton get to where they want to be with ease.

There’s a real chance that renewable energy can be provided to Ryedale homes and businesses.

Third Energy has moved away from fracking and wants to repurpose its 12 wells to produce geothermal heat. This would mean that they extract heat from their wells to then heat buildings for domestic, commercial, leisure and tourism. That’s heat to communities, residential heating projects and for farming in Ryedale.

Right now, Third Energy is ready to take on some feasibility studies at its sites to see if geothermal energy would be a possibility for the district.

Third Energy will have people on site to test the fluid levels and carry out technical and commercial modelling. There’s going to be minimal presence at the well sites and no large-scale machinery during the feasibility stage. So, overall very little to see or hear.

The feasibility studies are expected to take eight months of staged work which includes desktop studies, designing the technology and coming up with a business model for the wells.

There will be work carried out inside two wells – one on Pickering showground and one at Dalby Forest. This work will see an injection of Xclude technology into the wells which seals up the perforations. This would enable Third Energy to start preparing the wells for geothermal installations, depending on the outcome of the feasibility studies. These works would only require pumping equipment at the two well sites and again, there won’t be any large scale machinery or rigs.

We want to involve you in this project as much as we can, so that you can share your views.

We will engage fully with our local communities because we want all residents and businesses to understand the work involved and what the findings of the feasibility studies will mean for Ryedale as a whole. We will listen to all feedback and ensure that it is acted upon.

You will find all updates, project timelines and details of engagement events on this site. Please use this site to stay up-to-date with the geothermal studies and to have your say.

Geothermal energy is a renewable and continuous source of thermal energy which utilises naturally heated rock formations below the earth’s surface to heat water, which is then brought to the surface. Geothermal is an emerging source of energy in the UK. It’s tried and tested technology that is safe and sustainable.

There is the potential for geothermal energy to be produced at the wells for 30-35 years with little intrusive work needed during that time.

• Start of the project - fluid levels in wells will be tested to get accurate readings

• Engineering firms will complete feasibility work already started on the Pickering wells

• Engineering firms will carry out feasibility studies at Ebberston wells, in Dalby and Wyekham

• End of the process will result in business models in place for the wells with customers identified

If the feasibility studies show that the wells can produce geothermal energy then:

• This will be the first repurposed site in the UK for community use. Another one has happened in the Netherlands.

• There is only one other geothermal heated swimming pool in the UK, in Cornwall. This would be a first for Ryedale and the North of England.

• It will provide a reduction in carbon emissions and helping residents have more sustainable forms of energy

• This has the potential to increase visitors to the area in a green and renewable way

• This also has the potential to enhance the agricultural sector in Ryedale and increase employment as a result

• The feasibility work and potential uses of geothermal energy ties in with our own ambitions set out in our Climate Change Action Plan.