Fight against oil exploration continues
By Rebecca Poole
Activists are drumming up support to raise funds for an ongoing battle to protect the Lincolnshire Wolds from proposed oil drilling.
Following from a successful protest in Lincoln city centre on Saturday (February 8), Extinction Rebellion (XR) and SOS Biscathorpe are appealing for money to fight an appeal which aims to pass an application for new oilfields in Biscathorpe.
Rosemary Robinson, an XR Lincoln Spokesperson, explained: “We’ll be raising awareness around the county and raising money, I think we need about £30,000 to employ lawyers and experts to fight the case at the appeal.
“They are a great band of people and legal fees are not cheap, but they work at a lower price for us and they are quite expert at dealing with planning applications for oil and gas drilling so we’re confident that they’ll do a good job for us.”
Campaigning led by Extinction Rebellion Lincoln last weekend garnered interest from the public who donated to the Save Biscathorpe GoFundMe, which currently sits at just under £26,000 raised towards legal fees.
“A lot of people thought the Biscathorpe appeal had been won last year, which of course it was, but now the inspector is redetermining the application for Biscathorpe oil drilling so it’s all back on again now.
“If there’s sufficient interest in people objecting to it then the inspector will hold a public enquiry as opposed to a written enquiry. In a public enquiry you get the chance to go in and speak and other sides do, so it’s a much better way of getting your message across and hopefully getting a positive result so we’re hoping that will happen next.”
In 2024, a decade-long battle against Egdon Resources, now Heyco, was won in a High Court case by campaigners, but the developers’ have appealed the decision for the second time, aiming to gain permission for exploratory oil drilling in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Survey boards displayed by the environmental activists at the weekend showed that overwhelmingly people opposed the idea of an oilfield site in Biscathorpe, with concerns the effects of climate change are accelerating.
Rosemary added: “I don’t think anyone thought there was a case for drilling more new oil and gas, given the climate crisis. I think it was 1.7 degrees increase in global temperatures over pre-industrial levels last January (2024).
“When you see the effects of climate change in California you realise it’s already here and it’s already having a big impact.
“You can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet.”
Extinction Rebellion Lincoln is planning similar outreach over the coming months. See: www.instagram.com/xr_lincoln or www.gofundme.com/f/SaveBiscathorpe
