Briefing: Horse Hill oil development Court of Appeal judgement

  Published:  31 Mar 2022
Months after declaring a climate emergency, Surrey County Council granted planning permission for an oil development that would extract over 3 million tonnes of oil over 20 years. Friends of the Earth supported Ms Sarah Finch (on behalf of Weald Action Group), and took the government to court to challenge Surrey County Council’s decision not to take into account the full climate impact of the oil development in the context of the current climate emergency. The case went before the High Court in November 2020, and concluded that the council’s decision was lawful. While this is disappointing, the judgment is an improvement in climate terms on the High Court judgment delivered in December 2020. If Ms Finch brings an appeal and this goes to the Supreme Court, Friends of the Earth will continue to support the case.

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