Communities fighting onshore oil and gas
A new study by UCL researchers suggests that oil production at Horse Hill well may have triggered a series of over 100 small earthquakes in Surrey during 2018 and 2019.
Monitoring by seismologists plotted the epicentres between Newdigate and Charlwood, just 3km from the Horse Hill drill site and 8km from Brockham.
Continue reading “UCL Researchers Link Surge in Surrey Earthquakes to Oil Drilling”
The UK government is developing new guidance on environmental impact assessments for new offshore oil and gas projects. This is a direct result of our win in the Supreme Court.
Thanks to our campaign on the Horse Hill oil extraction site in Surrey, fossil fuel developers and regulators can no longer ignore the huge climate pollution caused by burning the oil and gas they produce. And that applies equally to the North Sea fields. From now on, when companies apply to develop oil and gas fields, they must include a full assessment of these emissions (called “Scope 3”) in their Environmental Statements, and OPRED (the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning) must take them into account before approving any new drilling. The UK is not approving new offshore oil and gas fields while the new guidance is being developed.
The government consulted on its draft and the Weald Action Group submitted a response to the consultation.
Sarah Finch, who brought the brought the legal case on Horse Hill, on behalf of the Weald Action Group, also submitted a response.
Campaigners at the Weald Action Group have written to Surrey County Council asking them to put a stop notice on the sale of any oil produced at the Horse Hill oil site since the Supreme Court quashed planning permission for activities on the site on 20 June 2024.
We requested the council to draft the stop notice in such a way that profits made from the sale of any oil that might be produced in contravention of it could be subject to a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Surrey climate campaigner receives international recognition.
Climate campaigner Sarah Finch, who won a landmark and far-reaching legal victory in the UK Supreme Court earlier this year, has been named by TIME as one of the 100 most innovative leaders driving climate change [1].
Following widespread outrage at UK Oil & Gas PLC (UKOG) continuing to produce oil at Horse Hill without planning permission, we are pleased that they have now suspended operations.
But we are appalled that it took protests by Extinction Rebellion, news coverage by Drill or Drop, Channel 4 and BBC Surrey, questions from the local MP and the threat of legal action by Friends of the Earth to bring them to this conclusion.
Press release from Friends of the Earth
Surrey County Council given one week deadline to respond to legal complaint over unlawful oil extraction at Horse Hill
A copy of the letter can be accessed here: friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/urgent-letter-complaint-surrey-county-council
The environmental organisation Friends of the Earth has written to a local authority over oil wells in Surrey that continue to operate, despite the fact its planning permission was quashed in a landmark Supreme Court ruling months ago.
Continue reading “Call for immediate stop to “brazenly unlawful” oil production at Horse Hill”
Planning permission for oil production at Horse Hill was quashed this summer as a result of the legal challenge which Sarah Finch brought on behalf of the Weald Action Group.
The ruling has led to a number of other planning applications being quashed around the UK.
Yet at Horse Hill itself, Horse Hill Developments Ltd (HHDL) continues to produce oil at the site, according to figures submitted by its parent company UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) to the industry regulator. Read more on Drill or Drop
Continue reading “We ask Surrey County Council about unlawful oil production at Horse Hill”
UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) PLC, the fossil fuel extraction company that has proved so unsuccessful at Horse Hill, Dunsfold, Broadford Bridge, the Isle of Wight and in Turkey, now wants to create salt caverns beneath the Isle of Portland in Dorset, for hydrogen storage. It is promoting the project through its new subsidiary UK Energy Storage Ltd (UKEn).
Continue reading “Do UKOG’s plans to store hydrogen in salt caverns in Dorset add up?”
The Weald Action Group has responded to the government’s consultation on proposed revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework.
We welcome the proposed policies on renewable energy, which provide a welcome shift to enable the rapid deployment of renewable energy at scale.
Continue reading “Weald Action Group response to NPPF consultation”
The UK’s first new coal mine application in 30 years – which was granted permission by the previous government in 2022 – will not be allowed to go ahead.
South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth had taken the government to court over the decision, arguing among other things that it had failed to take into account the full climate impact of the mine. Today, the High Court judge Justice Holgate allowed their challenges and quashed the planning permission.
Continue reading “Planning permission for new coal mine in Cumbria quashed”