The case concerns a statutory review challenge, brought by Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA) (acting through resident Sue Taylor) against an Inspector’s decision on 13 February 2023 to grant permission for an exploration and appraisal development, at the Lower Stumble site in Balcombe, which is situated within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The proposed operation would involve four weeks of pumping to remove wellbore fluids followed by two weeks of earth moving. An extended well test would continue for 12 months, with a continually burning flare and running generator. If the operation did not result in planning permission for longer term oil drilling, two months of plugging and site restoration would be needed.

Through a permission order of the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, dated 7 May 2024, the Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal on four grounds, namely that:

1. the judge erred in her interpretation of the Inspector’s decision letter in concluding that the Inspector had not taken into account the benefits of the future extraction of hydrocarbons and/or failed to provide a reasoned finding for any such conclusion. The FFBRA maintains that the Inspector acted irrationally by only taking into account the benefits, but not the harms, of the future extraction.
2. the judge misinterpreted Policy M7 of the West Sussex Joint Local Minerals Plan 2018 and/or failed to provide any reasoning for her conclusion that the question of whether Policy M7a rather than Policy M7b applied turned only on the content of the exploration application, without regard to the future production phase.
3. the judge misinterpreted the exceptional circumstances test in national and local policy relating to development in an AONB.
4. the judge erred in dismissing FFBRA’s complaint that the Inspector needed to (but failed to) take into account the development’s impact on local water resources, namely the Ardingly Reservoir.

In particular, the Court of Appeal found that grounds 1-3 raised “important issues about the proper approach to planning applications relating to the exploration for or production of hydrocarbons on which (further) guidance from the Court of Appeal is desirable”.

Merrow Golden has been acting for the Claimant, led by David Wolfe KC and instructed by Leigh Day solicitors.