Pledge donation for Horse HIll Judicial Review

S&SPC • Sep 24, 2020

Councillors financially support Horse Hill Judicial Review

Sarah Finch has applied to the Court of Appeal to appeal the judgment. Sarah is appealing two things
- the decision itself
- the fact that the judge ordered Sarah to pay £10,000 costs to the other side rather than the £5,000 (more on both below).

The High Court judge, Mr Justice Holgate, found that the decision to permit 20 years of oil production at Horse Hill was legal as the requirement for Environmental Impact Assessment is limited to the work at the development site and does not apply to the environmental impacts of the products of the development. Yet there is no other regulatory system which does assess the total impacts of fossil fuel production, so there is a big gap between national climate policy and planning law. As this is clearly an issue of wider significance (as Mr Justice Holgate acknowledged), Sarah feels it is important enough to seek a decision from a higher court. If she is allowed to appeal, it will be examined by three judges, all senior to Mr Justice Holgate.

Mr Justice Holgate raised her liability from the £5,000 cap (which we agreed to pay if she lost) set by the Aarhus agreement to £10,000. As he had made factual errors in this, she hopes it will be overturned and the previously agreed £5,000 cap reinstated. The £5000 costs for losing in the High Court will be payable either way, but she understands that sum does not to be paid while the appeal is pending. We will pay the £5,000 to the solicitors so I am in contact with Leigh Day to arrange when that will be and how to make it.

It is the role of S&SPC to represent the local residents and the main charge is that we seek clear, transparent legal decisions from our Primary Councils. As there was doubt this had been done correctly Councillors agreed to pledge up to £5,000 on the basis the funding would only be paid if the Claimant was unsuccessful and lost the JR.

Sarah has thanked S&SPC and said she is extremely grateful to us for our generosity and support in pledging to pay the costs. She has confirmed that should she lose the costs part of the appeal, she has some generous donors willing to contribute the additional £5,000.

07 Mar, 2024
The Parish Council is celebrating being in existence for 50 years this year. We have lots of exciting plans to mark this special occasion. We will be holding a celebration fun day jointly with Salfords Social Club on Saturday 29 June from midday until 5pm. There will be a live band, BBQ, Ice cream van, entertainment for all the family and several craft stalls. All our local community groups are joining in and will be showcasing what they have to offer or running a stall. All residents and families are welcome to attend this existing day. We will be hosting another event in Sidlow – more information to follow The Parish Council will be donating and planting trees as part of our 50th year. We will be burying a time capsule so will be asking our community groups and some residents if they would like to donate something to be included to mark where we are in 2024 for someone to find in the future. We have plans to build on improving our environment and hope to share more in the coming months on what we will have to offer our community. We plan to gift roads that have verges with bags of daffodil bulbs so residents can plant them in the Autumn. This would help brighten up our villages and help the local environment and biodiversity.
28 Feb, 2024
Wellbeing Walks
28 Feb, 2024
Community Garden
28 Feb, 2024
Spring Litter Pick Event
13 Nov, 2023
WE HELD A SUCCESSFUL CHRISTMAS EVENT ON FRIDAY 1 DECEMBER
12 Nov, 2023
Coffee mornings at Salfords village hall
08 Sept, 2023
The defibrillator was installed in Sidlow in early September 2023 and is located next to the Parish Council noticeboard near the Three Horseshoes Pub in Ironsbottom. The defibrillator needs to be kept at an ambient temperature all year round so we have purchased a locked solar cabinet to house the defibrillator. If you would like to know the code for access please contact the Clerk. Alternatively, if in an emergency you needed access, when you call the ambulance on 999 they would give you the code. The unit might appear to be a strange angle but this is so the solar panels reach maximum benefit from the sun! The procurement and installation costs were just under £4,000. We hope it will never have to be used but now have comfort that there is a unit near our residents in Sidlow. In July 2023 we held a well attended defibrillator/ CPR training session for our residents with some really good questions being asked. We thank Brendan, who runs First Aid training, and joined us to offer free CPR training to compliment the defib training.
08 Sept, 2023
The Parish Council held a successful litter pick event on Saturday 14 October collecting over 10 bags of rubbish. Thank you to all our wonderful residents who came and joined in to help and stayed for freshments afterwards.
08 Sept, 2023
The Parish Council has used Strategic CIL Infrastructure Funding Programme (SIP) 2023-2027, from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (R&BBC) to completely refurbish the rear hall at Salfords village hall. The works were completed during Summer 2023, when less busy, and the rear hall was re-opened in late August 2023. The original proposed costs were set at £24,173. However, once the project started there were necessary additional works that had to be undertaken to move walls and pipework which was discovered at ground floor level. The Parish Council also agreed to have various improvement works such as making the WC area larger for access, lowering ceilings for thermal efficiency improvements, re-plastering various walls, completely re-decorating the whole of the rear area and replacing the flooring throughout. The final project costs came to £33,000. This was the first stage of a two part project for rear hall improvements. We will be using the remaining grant Strategic CIL funding to replace the patio at the rear area. These works will be completed in the October half term at a cost of £10,000.  We hope these improvements will provide easy access for our local community groups and residents. The Parish Council has plans for 2024 to procure some high and low level planters so we can look to start a community garden which residents can get involved with in the summer months. More to follow on this later this year or early next as we have developed our plans. If this is something you would be interested in getting involved with please let us know.
08 Sept, 2023
Breakfast Networking Event
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