![]() "In my overall judgement, the national need is the overriding consideration and furthermore amounts to the requisite exceptional justification for permitting this major development within the High Weald AONB."įFBRA's statutory review claim is being brought against Angus Energy Weald Basin No 3, West Sussex County Council and the Housing and Communities Secretary.įFBRA is represented by law firm Leigh Day, as well as barristers David Wolfe KC and Merrow Golden. "Against that is to be balanced the evident national need I have identified for continued hydrocarbon exploration and assessment in the interests of energy supply security pending ultimate transition net carbon-zero energy provision. "Even such moderate harm to the AONB carries great weight in terms of the NPPF," they added. In their decision letter, the inspector stated that all adverse impacts of the development could be acceptably mitigated in planning terms but with the notable exception that there would be a moderate adverse impact on the landscape of the AONB, contrary to the Mid Sussex District Plan and the NPPF. It would therefore be contrary to policies set out in the West Sussex Joint Local Minerals Plan 2018 and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)."īut the developer, Angus Energy Weald Basin No 3 Ltd., subsequently appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, leading to an inspector's decision in February 2023 to allow the appeal. It added: " is scope for meeting the need in some other way, outside of nationally designated landscapes. In refusing the application, the council also concluded that there were alternative sources of hydrocarbon supply, both indigenous and imported, to meet national needs. West Sussex refused planning permission in March 2021, as the project would represent "major development" in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), for which there "are no exceptional circumstances, and which is not in the public interest". The High Court is this week hearing a claim that argues a planning inspector's decision to allow an exploratory oil drilling project in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty failed to consider the harms of the future extraction of hydrocarbons on the environment.įrack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA), acting through resident Sue Taylor, is in the High Court today (19 July) in an attempt to quash the planning permission on grounds that allege the decision was irrational, failed to comply with planning regulations and the council's local plan and failed to consider climate change. ![]()
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