Egdon Resources has announced it is withdrawing from an appeal on its oil site at North Kelsey in Lincolnshire just days before the hearing.

In a statement this morning, the company said it had made the decision reluctantly.

The hearing before a planning inspector had been due next week (14 and 15 June 2023).

It would have decided whether Lincolnshire County Council had been correct to refuse planning permission in March 2022.

Egdon had sought permission to vary two conditions of the original planning application, granted for North Kelsey in 2014, by:

• Adding 12 months to the duration of the application
• Changing the trajectory of the well

The council’s planning committee unanimously refused consent on grounds that the additional year would add to the uncertainty of local residents.

Today, Egdon said its decision to withdraw from the appeal follows correspondence with the inspector over the proposals for a lateral, rather than vertical, borehole.

The company and the council had agreed that these changes were minor under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act and did not need a completely new planning application.

But according to Egdon’s statement, the inspector viewed the lateral borehole as a new development because it extended beyond the original application boundary. The inspector suggested it could, therefore, not be properly considered as a section 73 application.

Egdon said today:

“The lateral borehole is a fundamental aspect of the exploratory well at North Kelsey to ensure all exploration targets are fully explored.

“Therefore, to ensure that there is clarity on this matter Egdon will be submitting a new planning application for consideration by Lincolnshire County Council as soon as possible. This application will be accompanied by recently completed updated traffic, ecology and flood risk assessments.”

The reports that had been part of the section 73 application had been criticised by local opponents as out of date.

Egdon also said it would carry out a consultation with local people before submitting the new application.

The company’s managing director, Mark Abbott, said;

“Whilst it is disappointing to have to withdraw the appeals at this late stage and with the strong belief that our case for approval was compelling, we and our advisors unfortunately saw little option given that a lateral borehole is key to the exploratory drilling, and to ensure clarity and robustness in any decision made. 

“We will now focus on finalising a new application supported by recently completed updated technical assessments to account for any changes since the original planning consent from 2014.”

Reaction to today’s announcement

More delays expected

A new application is likely to delay any prospect of development at the North Kelsey site and increase the uncertainty of local residents.

The section 73 application was published in December 2021, refused in March 2022 and appealed in August 2022.

No work has been carried out at North Kelsey, apart from on the entrance, since the original application was approved nine years ago.

History of withdrawals and changes

This is not the first time an onshore oil and gas company has pulled out of an appeal before the hearing.

In 2015, Celtique Energie announced it was abandoning its appeal against a refusal of planning permission to drill for oil between the villages of Wisborough Green and Kirdford in West Sussex.

A public inquiry had been scheduled for September 2015. But six months before, Celtique Energie said it was pulling out because of delays to the start date.

Other companies have made changes to their application just before an appeal hearing.

In its submission to the North Kelsey hearing, Egdon reduced the time it thought it needed to build the site, drill and test the well and carry out restoration from a year to 24 weeks.

Ineos Upstream changed its proposals just before public inquiries on the Woodsetts and Harthill shale gas sites. The company was granted planning permissions for the Harthill site but the consent later lapsed without work being carried out.