RE: DoD latest24 Oct 2018 06:25
Wongtogo - I think you should really calm down. You just have to read Ibugs historical posts to know he posts without an agenda. This board is all about pooling together posters expertise and Ibug certainly adds a lot of informative balanced posts.
I actually found that DoD post very illuminating. It just highlights how naive the Weald oil companies still are when it comes to basic planning and how County Council officials really don’t have the expertise to dissect petroleum legislation and procedures.
Bury Hill Wood (Leith Hill) was an almighty screw up from day one….who actually thought they could drill a well in the middle of a protected forest…and then persevere for 9 years. Someone(s) within Europa Oil and Gas was getting paid a lot of money and share allocation to basically kill the entire project through being professionally inept. Cllr Hall has been quoted as saying
“The first one was at Rykas [café] at the bottom of Box Hill. Somebody went into Rykas the week of the planning committee and said ‘What do you know?’. They knew nothing.
“The second time, it was the service station at Cobham on the M25. Again, there was correspondence before the meeting: ‘What do you know about this?’ ‘We know nothing, we don’t agree to this.’
“And the last time, which is quite amusing in its own way, they put out to consultation to use a layby on the M25 next to junction 9 only to meet the county planners the next day but also the police and Highways England. Highways England and the police both said ‘We’re not going to have demonstrators all over junction 9, get lost.’ So they had to withdraw it.”
If you tried to follow this policy in the Middle East or Africa, then your rig would be shot up, your trucks set on fire and guys held hostage for ransom.
I would like to know what training these Councillors actually have with respect to petroleum decision making. After all they are also deciding on transport development, town and country planning, gypsy / traveller sites, listed buildings. When they don’t take the advice of their Planning Officers and go on their gut instincts….that isn’t right. Next thing you’re being listened to at a Parliamentary Committee meeting without your credentials being examined. The Petroleum industry is very technical challenging and working within the OGA, EA and HSE takes years to gain the necessary experience.
If the Weald Oil Companies were invited to a parliamentary Committee meeting, I wonder what challenges they would mention dealing with Local Authorities and what could be done to help streamline the whole planning process with regards to further training for Councillors etc.
I truly hope that all the Weald Companies take on board the lessons learnt from the past 9 years of planning. In respect to Angus….send the entire team to council / planning meetings, start earning their high salaries and make sure everything has been covered with the local authority whether it is Surrey or West Sussex councils.
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