LHAG have been fighting the Leith Hill oil drilling for seven years. In that time, there have been many twists and turns. Below, we hope to clarify how we got to where we are.
The Initial Foray
This fight started in earnest in February 2009, when the individuals that would later band together to form the Leith Hill Action Group (LHAG) first became aware of the issue.
The first job in March 2009 for the newly established LHAG was to counter the planning application prepared in October 2008 by The Barton Willmore Planning Partnership on behalf of Europa Oil and Gas. In a story that would become only too familiar, this had to be done in a very tight timeframe. LHAG’s initial 44-page response was submitted to Surrey County Council in April 2009.
As a result of this response, Surrey County Council requested further information from Europa, which was finally supplied in December 2009. LHAG then had just 28 days to respond to this (and this over the Christmas period!) A Herculean effort resulted in an additional second 40-page response being submitted by LHAG on 15th January 2010.
This pattern was repeated in early 2011. Further information was requested and supplied and LHAG was given another 28 day timeline to react, which resulted in their third response on 14th April 2011
The Planning Hearing
This first phase of the story culminated in an incredible day at County Hall in Kingston-upon-Thames on 25th May 2011. LHAG co-ordinated the presentation of carefully scripted and rehearsed arguments against the application by four of its committee members and a representative of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England – each had a strict three minutes and no more. In addition, two county councillors spoke from the floor against the application. Additional pressure was present in the form of BBC London News filming the hearing, such is the interest in our campaign.
Debate between the councillors then lasted for three hours, whilst the scores of residents who had travelled to watch looked on enthralled. The final result was a decision against the application!
All this work and each of these truly excellent and professional responses were the result of hundreds of hours of work by the LHAG committee, all in their spare time and all, needless to say, for free. It was a real-life “little guy versus the big corporation” story, lasting for over two years and it had, for now, the necessary happy ending. However, whilst the battle had been won, the war was far from over.
The Appeal to the decision at the Planning Hearing
The official refusal of the application was confirmed in mid-June. This gave Europa until mid-December to appeal.
Just when we had begun to think that this deadline might pass unheralded, Europa submitted an appeal against the decion made at the Planning Hearing. Once again, Europa had chosen to act just before Christmas. Once again, LHAG had to act within a very tight timeframe.
The principal parties to an appeal would normally be the applicant (Europa) and the Authority (Surrey County Council, “SCC”). But because all the arguments that saw the application denied had been made by LHAG and not by SCC’s officers, LHAG sought and was granted (in January 2012) a special status under Rule 6 of the rules on planning inquiries to be a full party in the appeal process.
This meant it was able to appoint its own barrister, who cross-examined Europa and its representatives during the Public Inquiry. It also meant LHAG was able to present its own evidence, including testimony of Expert Witnesses. Although LHAG stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Surrey County Council in defending the decision to refuse Europa planning permission, it remained an independent party in the Inquiry.
LHAG’s Involvement in the Inquiry
The parties were required to submit their Statements of Case in early February. Statements of Case are an outline of the legal and technical arguments that will be presented at the Inquiry. LHAG were pleased to be able to instruct the same barrister who had provided invaluable advice prior to the planning hearing. Following submission of the Statements of Case, formal Proofs of Evidence by LHAG's appointed expert witnesses were then submitted.
As much of the legal and expert witness work as possible was undertaken by the LHAG committee, but where we did not have, or couldn't beg, appropriate levels of specialist expertise, we had to buy it in.
This, and the legal fees, is why we needed to raise £50,000 in such a short period of time.
Since 2005, it has been possible to appoint a barrister directly, without the need to involve solicitors. In order to save costs, this has been the approach taken by LHAG. This means that all the work ordinarily done by solicitors – reviewing thousands of pages of documents, organising case files, setting up briefs – is being undertaken by committee members of LHAG. Once again, it has fallen on the shoulders of a few volunteers to undertake hundreds and hundreds of man-hours of work in their spare time.
The Inquiry
The Public Inquiry ran from 10th to 19th July in Dorking Halls. So many people attended to show their support, thus demonstrating to the Inspector the depth of feeling about this application and the need to preserve the Leith Hill area of the Surrey Hills AONB.
The Result of the Public Inquiry
The outcome of the public inquiry was received at the end of September 2012 and the fantastic news was that the appeal was dismissed. Europa were not granted permission to exploratory drill for oil and gas in Bury Hill Wood.
Europa's High Court Appeal
Following the outcome of the public inquiry, Europa then issued an appeal to the High Court against the decision of the planning inspector. The Secretary of State and the Leith Hill Action Group were co-defendants at the hearing. Disappointingly, Surrey County Council was invited but declined to accept the opportunity to defend the decision of its own planning committee. The hearing took place on July 23rd and July 24th 2013 (having been brought forward from the originally proposed date of November 2013). Sadly, the High Court judge overturned the planning inspector’s decision to reject Europa’s appeal against Surrey County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission.
LHAG's appeal against the High Court ruling
Mr Justice Ouseley, the High Court judge who overturned the planning inspector's decision, granted LHAG leave to appeal his decision. Having taken legal advice from our barrister, as well as having been provided with legal advice from one of the country's top planning solicitors and other planning advisors, we submitted our appeal on September 19th, 2013. The Court of Appeal hearing took place on 30 April 2014. Sadly, the three Appeal Court judges upheld the High Court judge's decision to overtturn the planning inspector's decision.
A second Public Inquiry
The outcome of the two court cases is that we now face a fresh public inquiry with a new planning inspector appointed to determine the outcome. This public inquiry is set to start on 22 April and to run for 7 working days. You can keep abreast of developments by checking back on this website and/or by signing up to receive our newsletters.