Charles Russell has advised AIM listed Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc on its successful High Court challenge of a Planning Inspector’s decision dismissing its appeal against Surrey County Council’s refusal of consent for an exploratory conventional hydrocarbon well at Holmwood, last Thursday.
The proposed development site is in the Green Belt and The High Court challenge centred on the Inspector’s interpretation of the National Planning Policy Framework and the Surrey Mineral Policy relating to exploring for hydrocarbons. The Inspector’s view had been that hydrocarbon exploration was preparatory to extraction, not part of it. This was held by Mr Justice Ouseley to be wrong, and that hydrocarbon exploration indeed forms part of mineral extraction.
The Judge held that the Inspector might have come to a different conclusion in the Inquiry, if he had recognised that exploring for hydrocarbons was mineral extraction and then had considered duration, reversibility and purpose of the operations in the Green Belt, from that starting point.
Following the quashing of the Inspector’s decision, the appeal will be remitted to the Planning Inspectorate for redetermination, which may involve a further Planning Inquiry. The Leith Hill Action Group, the third defendant in the case, has been given leave to appeal the High Court decision to the Court of Appeal.
Helen Hutton, who led the Charles Russell team, with assistance from other members of the Planning and Real Estate teams, commented “the case has national significance for the oil and gas industry and it was being tracked in its passage through the High Court by many other players in the UK hydrocarbon field. This decision will now assist in the exploration for conventional hydrocarbons, by confirming that the same Green Belt exemptions which apply for mineral extraction also apply for exploration, which has to be the logical interpretation of the National Planning Policy Framework and County mineral policies.”
Europa’s CEO, Hugh Mackay, commented “we are naturally pleased with the Judge’s decision and we hope to be able to progress to the next stage in the conventional hydrocarbon exploratory process at Holmwood, shortly. Our CPR published last June assigned mean gross unrisked prospective resources of 5.6 million barrels of oil to this prospect. We are very pleased with the level of on-hand advice and support received from Helen and other members of her team at Charles Russell, throughout the Inquiry and the High Court Challenge.”
Mark Howard, Client Relationship Partner for Charles Russell said “we are absolutely delighted to have been able to assist long standing client Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc in this matter. Helen and her team have worked really hard over the past 18 months supporting Europa first on their appeal against the decision of Surrey County Council and now on their successful High Court challenge against the Planning Inspectorate's decision. We hope that this High Court ruling will enable Europa and its partners to press on with the Holmwood prospect".
