A planning inspector has allowed long-term oil production in the Lincolnshire Wolds, even though he admitted it would harm the landscape and beauty of the area.
Paul Thompson said the plans for 15 years of oil extraction and a new well at Biscathorpe near Louth failed to comply with some local policies.
But in a ruling published earlier this evening, he said the national need for oil was enough to allow the proposal in the Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
In granting planning permission, he overturned a refusal by Lincolnshire County Council made just over two years ago, on the opening day of COP26, the international climate conference in Glasgow. Then councillors said the scheme would harm the AONB and noise caused by the site would be unacceptable.
Mr Thompson agreed that the proposal by Egdon Resources (now owned by Heyco) would “result in an adverse effect on the landscape and scenic beauty” of the AONB. He said:
“I conclude that the appeal site would not be a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to local and national planning policy relating to the effect of the development on the landscape and beauty of the AONB.”
But he said:
“In my overall judgement, the national need identified for oil production would amount to a national interest in the context of ensuring energy supply security and the transition to a low carbon economy.”
He said this met the test of exceptional circumstances required to justify major development like oil production in the AONB.
He also said material considerations in the decision, including the need for oil and the impact on the local economy, outweighed planning policies on the AONB.
Mr Thompson said the development would be contrary to local planning policies “when considered as a whole”. But he said he had decided the appeal should be determined “other than in accordance with them”.
He acknowledged that Egdon’s original production estimate for Biscathorpe of 2.77 million barrels would meet only several days of national demand over the entire production period and could all be exported. But he said:
“Nonetheless, the security of supply will remain a key issue, so the proposal could make a small, but important, contribution to supply from an indigenous resource and reduce reliance and competition for oil imports from abroad to help meet the continuing need for oil as the UK transitions to a low carbon economy.”
He also said Biscathorpe “may reduce the output from other countries” and cut carbon emissions from transporting oil to the UK.
The inspector added that drilling from outside the AONB would be “inherently cost prohibitive” and “subject to greater risk of mechanical failure”.
He also said there was no evidence that the development would threaten the contribution made by tourism to the local economy.
He said other adverse impacts of the development could be “acceptably mitigated”. He granted planning permission subject to 29 conditions on issues such as lorry movements, working hours and noise levels.
DrillOrDrop will report on reaction to the decision.
Categories: Regulation, slider
DRILL OR DROP? 
What a kick in the teeth for the people of Lincolnshire who have been flooded out of their homes and businesses in the last week.
Not sure about the connection there, alex, as that has been happening for a very long time. In the absence of anything more convincing I suppose it fits a certain desire, but I suspect the majority of the people in Lincolnshire will not be examining their gnashers. They may be thankful for the pumping systems deployed around Lincolnshire and maybe wonder whether their countryside being covered with solar panels is doing much to help as the skies are leaden and the rain falls. Meanwhile, there will be plenty of landowners in Lincolnshire remembering it is exactly that process over many centuries that has made Lincolnshire such a productive arable area, thanking God for that and trusting their red diesel will continue to be available, with the fertilizer input, to take advantage of it. Trusting that the dykes and ditches across the area will be kept clean, via some rather impressive fossil fueled machinery, so that the pumps can continue to do their jobs.
There might be a few who are somewhat miffed if they find that due to UK purchasing a lot of oil and gas from overseas their exchange rate is so poor they can not afford to go on holiday to somewhere warm and dry. They will know who to blame for that, won’t they alex? Equally, who to blame when they have issues getting their gnashers fixed as taxation revenues have not been achieved in UK.
Shocking, does this Inspector know that we export 80% of the oil produced in the U.K? And poor planning policy does not deal with climate change appropriately, allowing the production of more fossil fuels does not only harm the AONB!
I suspect he’s also aware that the tax revenues from Oil, produced in the UK, benefit the UK.
I believe he knows KatT that UK uses far more oil than it produces, ie. UK is a net importer.
He probably knows there are people like yourself who whilst attempting to stop oil production can not wean yourself off the use of it. Not sure I would classify that as in the national interest, but each to their own.
He probably knows that whereas UK used to produce 4.4mboe/day it currently produces 1.3 mboe/day and is forecast to only produce 200k boe/day by 2050, without new production. Goodness KatT, at 200k how will you manage? Will there be enough to provide your plastic, or will you be “shocked” to find you have been silenced?
Bit of a early bird today!? Is the best bit of the day, so enjoy.
The fact remains that the UK cannot function on solar and wind power, that countries worldwide are waking up to this and without fossil fuels people will freeze and go hungry. That IS a fact. There is far more damage caused by the un-recyclable wind turbines and solar panels in their production, maintenance and operation, they also take up vast swathes of land, unlike the onshore oil fields that run quietly and unobtrusively, the Wressle well on North Lincs is a prime example, producing in the region of 750 bopd. Anyone who supports the cessation of fossil fuels at this time is supporting hardship and inconvenience for the vast majority of the United Kingdom.
The UK does NOT export 80% of its produced oil. That is complete nonsense. SOME UK oil and gas is ‘processed’ in refineries abrad (there’s an international market) but the UK is a massive net IMPORTER of hydrocarbon products.
Biscathorpe is only a few miles from the Phillips refinery in Immingham, a by product of which is a carbon so pure it is essential for solar panel manufacture.
Producing oil in the UK means that we are taking responsility for SOME of the production we consume and its not ‘out of sight, out of mind’. It also means that SOME of the oil and gas produced results in TAXATION revenue….which means that we as citiziens have to pay slightly less (even though the country spends more than it earns through governent borrowing).
UK oil also requires less carbon emmisions to ship it to the point of processing and then the point of use. We are conceredn about ‘food miles’, so why not ‘oil miles’?
Lastly, the idiots in Orange bleat about the ‘clinate emergency’ and ‘criminal politicians’ (whilst breaking the law objectively) causing a ‘genocide’ (a grossly innapropriate use of that word). The FASTEST way to bring about the deaths of millions of humans around the world (aka genocide) is to STOP new oil and gas projects, without which millions of people will be dragged into poverty (deprivation in the UK is the leading limiter of lifespan) and starvation (natural gas via the Haber Bosch process produces the nitrogen fertiliser responsible for approximately 50% of global food production).
All this hysterical ‘environmentalism’ is essentially thinly disguised Malthusian anti-humanism, promoting policies with the direct effect of actively reducing the human population of Earth. This is Nazi level depravity.
Humans are ingenious people. Transition is a process not an event, and it is dependent upon technologies that do not yet exist in sufficenetly mature form (other than nuclear energy, but Greenpeace f*cked that over decades ago).
This has to be challenged. Overturning a refusal to allow production in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty puts the status of all the other AONBs at risk in future. I have already given to the next round of the legal process in Balcombe and will do so for Lincolnshire if the lawyers say it is possible.
Una-Jane Winfield legal advice is that there are grounds for an appeal by way of a statutory review. Read more here. https://gofund.me/85305081
Nope, Una-Jane, it doesn’t have to be challenged. ‘Tis your money to do what you want with it. Not sure that all other areas of AONB, or near by, actually are at risk. First, they have to be sitting on top of oil or gas. Strange how the same considerations don’t appear to apply to wind turbines, solar farms and whacking great pylons.
Perhaps, if you give your money and UK taxation is not achieved you will compensate the rest of us for having to plug the loss? Nope, didn’t think so. Just like the pension issue. Who knows one day somewhere in the future, Tesla may pay a dividend. If they don’t, oops is all the pensioner will hear. Mind you, with the $700m that Tesla directors recently had to return from overpaying themselves one would hope some of that could be redirected, but I suspect it will not.
Quite a big gravy train, so I suspect lawyers will not want to put a stop to it.
“Production from Biscathorpe may reduce production from other countries” – Where was the evidence for such a ludicrous claim? How on Earth does he think that works?? Any new oil Oil production will simply add to overall global production – it will NOT displace oil production elsewhere. Pure industry poppycock, swallowed and regurgitated by a ‘decision-maker’. Really, we should be able to expect better!
Oh I see your “logic” Alex, that if oil is produced at this site then consumption is bound to rise!
Sorry, that is the poppycock. Never has been the case and OPEC show every few months how production is adjusted to demand and to achieve price. Oil production is regularly adjusted worldwide, up or down. OPEC is a cartel, that is what they do. It is not adjusted to create extra demand through extra production, UNLESS one happens to live in a country where oil has not been previously readily available. UK demand is met by a combination of home production, and increasingly by imports. Other home production is declining. That is NOT reducing demand as it declines. It is increasing production over the horizon to meet the extra bit of demand that is not being met by declining local production.
So, if UK built a new car factory then more cars would be bought in UK? Nope, more UK cars may be bought and/or exported. Somewhere, someone else would lose some sales.
The “we’s” may expect better, but whilst they state such nonsense the decision-makers will take no notice. Keep it going Alex, because if you and others can not deal with the realities the decision makers will, seeing that the objections come from fantasy. I am not sure that such comments that are so adverse to what happens every day of the week within commercial companies that compete in a global framework does anymore than point out some have no idea how the real world works for most industries.