Balcombe: Plans to test for oil at fracking site could be overturned

Residents have clubbed together to take on the decision to allow Angus Energy to explore for oil in Balcombe, near Haywards Heath.

Frack Free Balcombe have appealed the decision which will now go to the High Court in London on July 19 and 20.

West Sussex County Council originally refused permission to allow the firm to test for shale oil reserves in 2021.

Protests at Balcombe in March 2013 (Image: Simon Dack)

But the Planning Inspectorate overturned the council’s decision on February 13, granting planning permission for two and a half years for Angus Energy to perform a one year oil test.

Charity Campaign for Rural England have backed the high court bid.

Sussex director Paul Steedman said: “Despite having to fight for more than a decade, Balcombe’s residents still refuse to be cowed by large energy companies and flawed planning systems.

"If planning permission is revoked at the High Court, it would be a significant victory in the fight to protect the area and residents’ quality of life.”

The exploration drill at Balcombe (Image: Simon Dack)

The charity previously said the decision to allow testing had “no public benefit and can only lead to environmental harm in an area of outstanding natural beauty”.

The decision will allow for the removal of drilling fluids and subsequent engineering works as well as the year-long extended well test for hydrocarbons, which form the basis of crude oil, natural gas, coal and other energy sources.

The document notes that a single gas flare unit would be used for gas combustion.

It also said that as many as 56 HGVs could come to the site every day, equivalent to five or six per hour overall.

A demonstration against the fracking site

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Fossil fuel companies are climate criminals – they’re knowingly polluting our planet and wrecking our natural landscapes, all whilst reaping record profits for their own shareholders.

"Yet by refusing to review the Planning Inspectorate’s outrageous decision to grant permission for oil exploration in the High Weald – overturning the will of both the local council and residents – this Government is aiding and abetting those climate crimes, rather than stopping them.

"I’m hopeful that the High Court will rule in favour of protecting our climate, an area of outstanding natural beauty, and the local community from this dangerous fossil fuel drilling – because it’s clear that the Government won’t.”

Angus Energy previously said the operations do not involve any drilling or fracking.

George Lucan, chief executive of Angus Energy, told The Argus in February that the site “will deliver oil with a lower carbon footprint than imported oil”.

In a statement yesterday, he said: “Angus Energy don’t wish to prejudice the court’s decision but would take the time to point out that there is no fracking and indeed no drilling being proposed here at Balcombe. 

“This is an appraisal of an existing oil well on a site that has been permitted for oil workings for decades.”