Egdon Resources team at the Wressle planning inquiry, 6 November 2019. Photo: DrillOrDrop
This page has links (in red) to detailed reports on the public inquiry into Egdon’s application for long-term oil production at Wressle in North Lincolnshire.
North Lincolnshire Council refused the proposals three times: on 11 January 2017, 23 June 2017 and 28 November 2018. A public inquiry in November 2017 dismissed the company’s first appeal. The council withdrew its case from the second appeal, three months before the opening of the inquiry.
Inquiry
Dates: Tuesday 5 November-Thursday 7 November 2019
Location: Hobbies Centre, Wesley Road, Scunthorpe DN16 1SA
Parties: Egdon Resources plc
Appeal reference: APP/Y2003/W/19/3221694
Site
Address: Lodge Farm, Clapp Gate, Appleby, DN15 0DB
People
Inspector: Phillip Ware
Egdon Resources barrister: Hereward Phillpot QC
Egdon witnesses (in order of appearance): Mark Abbott (managing director), Mark Barwood (engineering consultant), Jonathan Foster (regulation consultant), James Dodds (hydrogeology consultant), Paul Foster (planning consultant)
Campaigners who made statements: (in order of appearance): Jean Turner, Elizabeth Williams, Andrew McLeod, Rebecca Fawcett, Dave Roberts
Opponents outside the public inquiry into plans by Egdon Resources for 15 years of oil production at the Wressle site near Scunthorpe, 5 November 2019. Photo: DrillOrDrop
News updates from the inquiry
Preview
Day 1: Egdon opening statement, speeches from residents, Egdon witnesses – 5 November 2019
Key points
- Egdon’s proposed proppant squeeze needs a hydraulic fracture plan – Egdon consultant
- Inspector should assume other regulators will operate effectively – Egdon consultant
- Upgrades planned to well platform, oil storage bund and tanker loading
- 2.15 million barrels of oil classed as recoverable from Wressle – Egdon MD
- Wressle scheme will help UK avoid imports – Egdon MD
- Wressle plan is “technically fracking” but legal loopholes avoid regulations – opponent
- Egdon errors and oversights revealed only by public scrutiny and council consultants – opponent
- Risks from acid, seismicity, emissions – opponent
- Objections don’t justify refusal – Egdon barrister
Day 2: More Egdon witnesses and speeches from residents – 6 November 2019
Key points
- North Lincolnshire councillors did not read report or understand the key issues of Wressle site – Egdon witness
- Decision won’t happen before the general election
- Industry in the countryside will make it look like a town, resident warns
- Wressle plans are not novel, says Egdon
- No unacceptable risk to groundwater or surface water – Egdon consultant
- Time to choose between fossil fuels and a tolerable climate – resident
- No need for more oil and gas – resident
- Dismissing appeal is step in right direction of climate change – resident
- Inspector rejects condition to allow “operational need” that would extend working hours
Day 3: closing statements and reaction – 7 November 2019
Key points
Egdon
- Moratorium on fracking will not affect Egdon’s Wressle plans
- Proppant squeeze is “different in scale and purpose” from fracking
- No objections raised could justify refusal of planning permission
- The scheme would bring “substantial benefits” and complied with local and national planning policy
- No evidence that oil produced at Wressle would lead to a “net increase in consumption and overall greenhouse gas emissions”
Opponents
- Egdon plans to use a form of fracking at Wressle and requires a hydraulic fracturing plan
- Wressle plans are “by no means small scale and conventional”
- North Lincolnshire Council’s withdrawal from the inquiry “stacked odds heavily in Egdon’s favour”
- “Profoundly disappointed” that campaigners could not sum up their arguments
- Egdon criticised for dismissing risk of seismic activity and traffic problems
- “Disappointment” that planning system makes it so difficult for the public to influence decision-making
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