A high-stakes case for new fossil fuel developments in the UK arrived in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, concerning the Horse Hill oil drilling site in Surrey.
Local resident Sarah Finch is disputing Surrey County Council’s decision to grant permission for oil extraction at the site, on the grounds the project will harm the environment.
According to Finch, planning permission was granted despite councillors failing to assess the downstream emissions that would be caused by burning oil extracted from Horse Hill.
Surrey County Council has argued planning law was followed during the decision-making process meanwhile.
What's the significance?
Horse Hill is situated to the north of Gatwick Airport and already has two exploratory wells which were drilled in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
In 2019, Surrey County Council granted site operator Horse Hill Developments Ltd, which is a subsidiary of UK Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:UKOG), planning permission for four extra wells, a wastewater reinjection well and the rights to produce oil for 20 years.
A judicial review of the decision was requested by Finch but was dismissed by the High Court in 2020, before judge Lord Justice Lewison permitted the case be appealed.
This prompted another hearing in November 2021 which ultimately saw the case dismissed again by the High Court in February 2022.
One of three judges did agree with Finch in the February 2022 ruling however, with the case now due to be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 June.
Several parties are now involved in the case, including levelling up secretary Michael Gove and Horse Hill Developments on the side of Surrey County Council.
Campaign group Friends of the Earth have backed Finch since early on in the proceedings meanwhile.
The Office for Environmental Protection, Greenpeace and West Cumbria Mining Ltd – which saw mine plans approved last December – have now joined the case for the Supreme Court hearing, marking an unusual move.
“The fact that these organisations all want to have their say […] shows the national importance of this case,” according to Finch’s campaign group Weald Action.
Whatever ruling the court decides to make is expected to have ramifications for the UK’s fossil fuel industry, with new licenses viewed as controversial amid the UK’s legally binding 2050 net-zero target.
“If councils can ignore these ‘downstream’ impacts when making planning decisions, then we have no hope of staying within safe climate limits,” Finch commented on Wednesday.
“I hope that the Supreme Court will confirm that no fossil fuel development – coal, oil or gas – should be allowed without consideration of its full climate impact.”