Marc Willers KC of the Garden Court Chambers Environmental Law & Climate Justice Team represented Sarah Finch, together with Estelle Dehon KC and Ruchi Parekh of Cornerstone Barristers.
Counsel were instructed by Rowan Smith, Carol Day and Julia Eriksen of Leigh Day solicitors.
The Supreme Court will hand down its judgment tomorrow in the ground-breaking legal challenge brought by campaigner Sarah Finch, acting on behalf of the Weald Action Group, against Surrey County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for oil production at Horse Hill in Surrey.
The judgment has been much anticipated and will be of major importance to planning authorities when deciding whether to grant planning permission for the extraction fossil fuels across England and Wales. The case centres on the correct interpretation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 2017 and whether, as Sarah Finch argues, those regulations require a decision-maker to assess the downstream greenhouse gas emissions which arise from the combustion of fossil fuel, before deciding whether to grant planning permission for its extraction and production.
Sarah's case against oil production at Horse Hill in Surrey has been supported by the Weald Action Group and Norwood Hill Residents’ Association.
The legal challenge is also supported by Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace UK, both intervenors in the case. The Office for Environmental Protection and West Cumbria Mining Ltd have also intervened in the proceedings.
If the legal challenge succeeds, it is likely to affect future proposals for new fossil-fuel developments in the UK.
Our Marc Willers KC represented Sarah Finch, together with Estelle Dehon KC and Ruchi Parekh of Cornerstone Barristers. They were instructed by Rowan Smith, Carol Day and Julia Eriksen of Leigh Day solicitors.
See the Friends of the Earth press release here.
The legal challenge has received widespread press coverage: Sky News, Law Society Gazette, Drill or Drop
