Key information needed for a new planning application for a controversial drilling site in Surrey will be submitted before Christmas, it was revealed today.

Planning permission for the Horse Hill oil production site, near Reigate, was quashed by the Supreme Court in June 2024.

In a landmark decision, the court ruled that the Horse Hill permission, granted by Surrey County Council, was unlawful. The justices said the permission failed to take into account the climate impact of burning oil from the site.

To continue work, the Horse Hill operator must submit a revised application with information about the carbon emissions from combustion, known as downstream or scope 3 emissions.

For the past 18 months, residents and campaigners have been asking questions about when this will happen.

In reply to a question from Jackie Macey, Surrey County Council said this morning the information was expected next month (December).

The response said UK Oil & Gas, the parent company of the site operator, would submit the details by 15 December 2025.

This is a year after the council first issued a formal request.

The council added:

“Once this information is received it will be published, and a full public consultation will be undertaken. The team will review next steps if the required information is not submitted by that date.”

The Weald Action Group, which opposes onshore oil and gas in southern England, has also asked Surrey County Council about whether it has had discussions with UKOG on site restoration at Horse Hill and whether a new planning application was expected.

Today, Companies House, the UK’s official registrar of companies, reported a First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off for the site operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited (HHDL). HHDL had failed to publish on time its accounts for the year ending September 2024.

Companies that are struck off the register can be dissolved and lose access to their bank accounts.

Update: the compulsory strike-off was discontinued on 3 December 2025

HHDL continued unlawful oil production at Horse Hill for five months after the Supreme Court ruling. A year on, in June 2025, the site had not been finally cleared, as required by the decision, and no date had been set for when this would happen.

So far, Surrey County Council has taken no formal enforcement action against HHDL.

But it said its planning enforcement tea was visiting the site today (Wednesday 26 November 2025) to “review the position in respect of the current status of the site”. A council official said:

“We will be considering our position further following that visit. I will provide a more detailed update once I have had the opportunity to review and discuss with the relevant officers.”

The next meeting of the council’s planning committee is two days after the information is due, at 10.30am, on Wednesday 17 December 2025 at the council’s headquarters in Reigate. Link to agenda.