UK Oil & Gas PLC on Thursday backed an earlier decision for planning consent at the Loxley gas discovery, in the face of opposition to the Surrey development.

UK Oil & Gas said it is still ‘firmly of the opinion’ that decision to grant planning consent for Loxley gas discovery was lawful.

Surrey County Council previously refused permission for the proposal in December 2019, but following a public inquiry in 2021, planning inspectors recommended that an appeal against this decision should be allowed.

Housing minister Stuart Andrew later approved the plans for UK Oil & Gas to explore a site in Dunsfold in June 2022.

‘The company and its counsel remain firmly of the opinion that the secretary of state’s decision to grant planning consent for the Loxley project was entirely lawful. A judgement is expected to be handed down later in the summer. Full planning and environmental consents remain in force,’ UK Oil & Gas said.

Campaigners from the group Protect Dunsfold and Waverley Borough Council brought legal action over a government decision to allow an exploratory oil and gas well to be dug near the village of Dunsfold in Surrey.

The proposed site is located in the Surrey Hills, in an area of great landscape value, and sits on the border of an area of outstanding natural beauty. AONBs are places that have been designated for conservation.

After the government’s decision to allow the exploratory drilling, the area’s MP and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt called the move ‘bitterly disappointing and wrong both economically and environmentally’.

However, on Thursday, the group and council were given the go-ahead to bring a legal challenge.

Shares in UK Oil & Gas fell 4.8% to 0.060 pence each in London on Thursday.

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.