Campaigners from the Weald Action Group and Friends of the Earth at the court, 17 February 2022
The Appeal Court ruled today that Surrey County Council did not act unlawfully when they gave planning permission for 20 years oil production at Horse Hill.
It was not a unanimous judgment: one of three judges agreed with campaigner Sarah Finch and intervenor Friends of the Earth that the Council should have considered the full climate impacts of the development, including the ‘downstream’ greenhouse gas emissions that will be produced when the oil extracted at Horse Hill is eventually burned.
However the other two judges disagreed and the appeal was dismissed.