2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Europa Oil and Gas Limited sought planning permission to construct an exploratory drillsite in the Green Belt, which was rejected by Surrey County Council and dismissed on appeal by the Secretary of State's inspector. The High Court reversed the inspector's decision citing a misinterpretation of 'mineral extraction' under the NPPF, and the Court of Appeal upheld this ruling. The Court clarified that 'mineral extraction' includes exploratory drilling and held that the inspector’s legal error warranted quashing the decision.
Judgment
Lord Justice Richards :
This appeal concerns an application for planning permission for exploratory drilling for hydrocarbons in the Green Belt. It raises a point of interpretation of paragraph 90 of the National Planning Policy Framework (“the NPPF”), which was issued in March 2012 and sets out the Government’s planning policies for England.
Paragraphs 79-92 of the NPPF relate to the protection of Green Belt land, replacing the former Planning Policy Guidance 2: Green Belts (“PPG2”). Paragraph 79 states that the fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; the essential characteristics of Green Belts are their openness and their permanence. Paragraph 80 provides more specifically that Green Belt serves five purposes, which include assisting in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.
Paragraph 87 states that, as with previous Green Belt policy, “inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances”. Paragraph 89 provides that a local planning authority should regard the construction of new buildings as inappropriate in the Green Belt, with specified exceptions such as the provision of appropriate facilities for outdoor sport (subject to a proviso). Paragraph 90 states:
“Certain other forms of development are also not inappropriate in Green Belt provided they preserve the openness of the Green Belt and do not conflict with the purposes of including land in Green Belt. These are:
mineral extraction;
engineering operations ….”
The central question in the appeal is whether the proposed development by way of an exploratory drillsite falls within the scope of the expression “mineral extraction” in that paragraph.
The Surrey Minerals Plan 2011: Core Strategy Development Plan Document (“the Surrey MCS”) also contains a provision, Policy MC3, relating to mineral development in the Green Belt and distinguishing between “mineral extraction” and “mineral development other than extraction”. The terms of the policy are set out later in this judgment. The policy has a subsidiary role in the case.
The history
Europa Oil and Gas Limited (“Europa”) applied in 2008 to Surrey County Council for planning permission for a development described in these terms:
“Construction of an exploratory drillsite to include plant, buildings and equipment; the use of the drillsite for the drilling of one exploratory borehole and t