A 71-year-old grandmother is walking more than hundred miles in a week to raise money for a legal challenge to oil drilling in Surrey.
Pat Smith, from Dorking, is aiming to collect more than £1,500 to help fund the case against Surrey County Council.
It seeks a judicial review of the council’s decision, a year ago, to grant planning permission for 20 years of oil production at the Horse Hill site near Horley.
The case will argue that the council failed to consider the direct and indirect greenhouse gas releases of the project or the government’s net zero target for carbon emissions.
Campaigners have already raised more than £24,000 through crowdfunding but need a further £10,000 for additional legal work.
Pat Smith said:
“This case has implications beyond Surrey to the rest of the UK and Europe.
“If we’re to stand any chance of averting the horrors of climate change, we have to stand together against ‘get-rich-quick’ actions that pollute the planet. There’s no need for any new onshore oil drilling.
“As individuals we often feel we cannot do a lot. I felt the walk was something tangible that I could do that would unite people and give us a sense of purpose.”
The walk starts on Sunday 27 September 2020 and will pass six existing or potential oil and gas sites, in West Sussex and Surrey.
It begins at Brockham, near Dorking, an oil site operated by Angus Energy. It ends on Saturday 3 October 2020 at Horse Hill, operated by a subsidiary of UK Oil & Gas plc.
The route passes a former proposed site at Leith Hill, a possible location at Dunsfold and the existing sites at Broadford Bridge and Balcombe.
All funds raised by the walk will go to the Surrey Oil Legal Challenge Fund. Details of how sponsor
- The legal case is brought by Sarah Finch, from Redhill and supported by the Weald Action Group. In February 2020, a judge at the High Court dismissed Ms Finch’s request for a judicial review of Surrey’s decision. (DrillOrDrop report). But in July 2020, she was granted permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Categories: Opposition, slider
DRILL OR DROP? 
Hypocrite ! Rucksack – Clothes – Hat – Glasses all made by using oil !!!
Well done Pat , great effort
Amazing! Good stuff.
Great effort, hope it goes well
Thanks for taking a stand. Go well and safely
She’s absolutely clueless. We need oil for may processes. It’s much more environmentally sound to use oil from this country rather than to import it from halfway around the world.
I see the agreed legal fees required have gone up again.
I’m sure it won’t be the last time.
Plastics production accounts for about 4 percent of global oil production ,
U.S. petroleum consumption by end-use sectors’ share of total in 2019
Transportation
68%
Industrial
26%
Residential
3%
Commercial
2%
Electric power
So Pat is actually cutting down emissions by walking .
Let’s forget about OIL, apparently it’s now GAS that UKOG expects to find – will it be poisonous sour gas???
Sarah Finch and many others had objected to the proposed development by UK Oil and Gas for a range of reasons, including climate change. When Surrey County Council approved the plans in September 2019, Sarah issued a legal challenge, with support from the Weald Action Group. She claimed that the Council had failed to consider the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of the project, and the government’s Net Zero target for carbon emissions. PUBLIC CONSULTATION for UK Oil Gas to drill for oil and gas on the Isle of Wight is now open. Please object before Friday July h.