Legal campaign restarted against quashed oil well expansion

Plans to expand the site in Wressle were halted in November 2024 after North Lincolnshire Council conceded that planning permission for the development should not have been granted because it had failed to consider downstream greenhouse gas emissions.

However, developer Egdon Resources has now obtained a screening decision from the council concluding that the greenhouse gas emissions from the expansion would not have a significant environmental impact, meaning the planning application can be considered without an environmental assessment. 

In a legal letter to the council, campaign group Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire (FFFL) argues that the impact from greenhouse gas emissions would be significant and should not be dismissed. They say the screening decision was flawed and should be reversed. 

The initial planning permission for the Wressle site was quashed last year after environmental campaigner Sandie Stratford threatened legal action in a letter to the council, arguing that the environmental impact of the expansion had not been properly considered. 

Sandie’s argument relied on the landmark ‘Finch’ Supreme Court judgment in June 2024, which ruled that the downstream emissions from the burning of fossil fuels extracted at a site or development must be assessed as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a planning application. 

The Wressle expansion planning application did not include an EIA and as a result the council admitted that planning permission should not have been granted, with the decision formally quashed in the High Court in November 2024.  

In February 2025, Egdon Resources requested a screening opinion from the council and provided an assessment of the estimated greenhouse gas emissions from the project. The screening opinion was issued in May and concluded that the development is “not likely to result in significant environmental impacts” and that no EIA would be required.  

In a pre-action protocol letter to the council, FFFL argues that in reaching the screening decision the council failed to correctly interpret environmental regulations, and also failed to properly assess the overall impact of the project to the point of being scientifically flawed. 

The group contests the decision on the following grounds:

• Contrary to EIA regulations, the council failed to take into account a number of criteria in deciding whether an EIA was required.
• The council misinterpreted the relevant guidance for evaluating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and the question of “significance”.
• The council incorrectly concluded that projects that amount to less than 5% of the UK’s carbon budget will not have a significant effect on the environment.
• The Council failed to have regard to the cumulative impact of the existing emissions from the current well site at Wressle in addition to the proposed two new wells.
• In concluding that no EIA is required, the Council deprived the public of the ability to meaningfully participate in the decision-making process and scrutinise the environmental impacts of the project. 

FFFL are calling on the council to withdraw its screening decision and instead conclude that the proposed expansion, which would see the addition of two new oil and gas wells, should be subject to an EIA.  

A spokesperson from FFFL stated:

"According to Egdon’s reports, this site will produce nearly 1 million tonnes of CO2e. In the middle of a climate crisis, dismissing that quantity of greenhouse gas emissions as 'insignificant' is clearly misguided. If Egdon and other oil and gas developers are allowed to make this excuse for every new project, where does it end? These emissions add up. Together, they are the major force driving climate breakdown. We can't keep pretending each cut doesn't matter — this is death by a thousand cuts, and science demands that we do better. We trust the council will reconsider and reverse their decision so that this issue can be subjected to proper public scrutiny." 

Leigh Day solicitor Julia Eriksen, who represents FFFL, said: