A campaign group has submitted an objection to Surrey County Council, in an attempt to prevent an oil site development being approved.
The objection from Weald Action Group, a network representing local groups campaigning against extreme oil and gas extraction, comes after a five-year legal dispute over planning permission for Horse Hill oil site.
While planning permission for oil production at the site was ruled out by the Supreme Court in 2024, Horse Hill Developments Ltd is pursuing approval to create four new production wells and supporting infrastructure at the site.
According to the group, the proposal would enable over 600,000 tonnes of oil to be extracted in the next two decades.
However, the group has argued that the revised climate assessment for the application is ‘fundamentally flawed’. It has urged the council not to rely on the assessment when deciding whether to grant planning permission for the site’s expansion.
As reasons for its objection, the group has said that the assessment disregards supplementary Government guidance on downstream emissions, as well as failing to describe the current state of the environment.
It has also argued that it ‘fails to consider Horse Hill's emissions in the context of the cumulative emissions from existing and approved fossil fuel projects worldwide’, and ‘makes repeated claims about ‘energy security’ that are completely unsupported’.
Kirsty Clough of Weald Action Group said: ‘Our analysis identifies a number of serious shortcomings in the applicant's climate assessment. It contains errors and misleading statements about future oil demand and climate scenarios, and fails to properly assess the true significance of the project's greenhouse gas emissions. Surrey County Council should not grant planning permission on the basis of such a deficient assessment.’
Lorraine Inglis of Weald Action Group added: ‘In 2019 Surrey County Council made the wrong decision in giving the go ahead to the expansion of Horse Hill. They now have another opportunity to make the right decision and refuse this application.
‘Every objection helps demonstrate that public opposition remains as strong as ever. We urge the community to explain to the council why this development should be rejected’.
A council spokesperson said: ‘Any comments or issues raised in response to the application will be considered by Officers during the determination process in due course.’
