An oil company was chastised by a High Court judge yesterday over relying on out-of-date law on the impact of its proposals.

The comments by Mrs Justice Farbey came towards the end of a two-day legal challenge by campaigners opposed to plans by Egdon Resources to produce oil at its site at Biscathorpe in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The campaign group, SOS Biscathorpe, had argued that a planning inspector and the secretary of state for levelling up acted unlawfully in granting planning permission for the proposals.

One of the group’s arguments centred on whether decisionmakers should take into account greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of the oil, known as downstream emissions.

The High Court had ruled in a separate case in 2020 that downstream emissions did not need to be considered when deciding a planning application.

But this judgement was changed in February 2022 by the Court of Appeal. It ruled that it was open to a decisionmaker to consider downstream emissions.

In October 2022, Egdon Resources still relied on the High Court ruling on downstream emissions in its appeal against refusal of permission for oil production at Biscathorpe.

At the appeal hearing, Egdon Resources did not tell the planning inspector that the environmental statement accompanying its application was out of date on the law and that downstream emissions could be considered as an indirect effect of a development.

Mrs Justice Farbey told Egdon yesterday it had a duty to bring this change in the law to the attention of the inspector.

DrillOrDrop invited Egdon Resources to respond to the judge’s comments. The company did not reply.

Egdon argued in court there was a “need for indigenous oil and gas as the UK transitioned to a low carbon economy”.

The company’s chief executive, Mark Abbott, told Planet Radio:

“Egdon Resources considers that all the grounds for challenging the Inspector’s decision granting planning permission at Biscathorpe should be dismissed.

“The Inspector reviewed all the relevant evidence before him and came to a balanced planning decision in allowing the appeal.

“The embedded safeguards within the design of the wellsite, and the rigorous technical assessments that accompanied the planning application, demonstrate that the risks to environmental sensitive receptors are very low and can be properly managed.

“The existing well site lies some distance from the nearest settlements and is well screened from neighbouring properties and public rights of way.”

SOS Biscathorpe, which has been fighting Egdon’s plans for a decade, said there was “no justification for new fossil fuel exploration anywhere”.

The group said:

“We’ve spent two days in court grappling with complex planning issues and it’s all too easy to lose sight of the essential facts:  the science is clear, no new fossil fuels.

“According to the International Energy Agency the world cannot afford to burn existing known fossil fuels and maintain even half a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels – the limit recognised as being vital if we hope to stave off the very worst impacts of climate change.”

Judgement in the case is expected to be deferred for several months.

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