Council costs in landmark oil well case could be £70k

Sarah Finch challenged Surrey County Council's decision to grant planning permission for expanding operations at the Horse Hill oil site

The final costs of a landmark case brought against Surrey County Council over planning permission for oil wells are likely to be upwards of £70,000.

The authority will pay the appellant's costs for bringing the case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal, capped at £35,000 each.

It will also pay the cost of bringing the case to the Supreme Court, which is yet to be confirmed.

Councillors will discuss the implications of the case at a planning and regulatory meeting on Wednesday.

The council had granted planning permission for the Horse Hill site in Horley to expand its operations in 2019.

Sarah Finch, who challenged the decision on behalf of the Weald Action Group, brought the case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal before being granted permission to take the matter to the Supreme Court, where it was heard in June.

Supreme Court judges did not rule that Surrey County Council should reject the proposal for new oil wells, but that it should have considered the downstream emissions.

The planning permission granted was quashed by the Supreme Court, though the council said it believed at the time it had followed planning law.

The council had granted planning permission for the Horse Hill site to expand its operations in 2019

At the time of the decision, Stephen Sanderson, the chief executive of UK Oil and Gas PLC - the company behind the Horse Hill project - said the court's ruling was "perplexing".

Ms Finch told supporters she was "absolutely over the moon" to have won the case, described as a landmark decision which could put future UK oil and gas projects in question.