It was the meeting of the Planning and Regulatory Committee – 10:30am on 8th August 2018.
The agenda alone was 253 pages in length! And there were many more pages to read from local residents about the proposal for:
MINERALS AND WASTE APPLICATION MO/2018/0444 – Brockham Wellsite, Felton’s Farm. The application is for retrospective and on-going permission to drill for oil and gas for three years.
As well as concerns about traffic, air and noise pollution and the industrialisation of the Green Belt, there are real worries about the recent cluster of earthquakes in Surrey. I am no geologist and accept that earthquakes have natural causes but the fact that 12 earthquakes have been recorded in 6 months while drilling was happening, while no earthquakes had been recorded in the previous two centuries, should make all of us ask searching questions about risk and safety. In my opinion, unless this company can prove that their works did not cause the earthquakes, then permission should be deferred.
Both Lib Dem councillors – Stephen Cooksey and I – voted to defer, two Tory councillors, Mary Angell and Edward Hawkins joining with us, but we were out-voted and permission was granted. The vote was 7:4 to grant permission (with conditions) to drill.
There are more applications pending to drill for gas in the Surrey Hills.