The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the planning authorities in Surrey acted unlawfully when they granted permission for an oil well development in 2019 without adequately considering certain environmental impacts. The decision comes from a three-to-two split among the five justices, in favor of an appeal filed by former Surrey resident Sarah Finch, representing the environmental group Weald Action Group. The appeal challenged the original planning permission given to Horse Hill Developments under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (EIA).
In their ruling, the Supreme Court emphasized that the authorities should have assessed the impact of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the future use of extracted oil. While Horse Hill Developments contended that these emissions were not directly relevant to the decision, the justices held that the subsequent burning of the oil would inevitably lead to environmental impacts that should have been considered. This decision overturns a 2022 High Court ruling that found in favor of Surrey County Council.
The full text of the Supreme Court judgment can be accessed here, and the earlier High Court decision is available here.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth, which intervened in the case, welcomed the judgment, noting that it would now be harder for fossil fuel projects to receive consent without thorough environmental impact assessments. Finch’s statement and further context on the case can be found on the Weald Action Group’s website.
This ruling is likely to influence future development proposals, potentially impacting the UK government’s approval of other fossil fuel projects, such as a new coal mine in Cumbria approved in December 2022. Legal professionals and developers must now carefully consider the full environmental implications of such projects.
For more details on the broader implications and reactions to this judgment, please refer to the original article on JURIST.