XR Southwest logo
SOUTH EAST UK
SOUTH EAST UK

Slow walk to Horse Hill

Eco activists “slow walk” four tankers to protest future fossil fuel production 

Campaigners converge on UKOG Horse Hill site to call for end to drilling

Extinction Rebellion and other eco activists slowly walked in front of four tankers this morning (3 August) en route to UKOG’s Horse Hill production site.

The slow walk saw around 20 Covid-19 masked activists gather near the junction of Horse Hill and Reigate Road and proceed at a snail’s pace in front of the tanker to protest the continued expansion of fossil fuel development in the midst of the climate emergency.

This is the second time in two months that protesters have used slow walking to highlight continued oil extraction at the Horse Hill site, which is located two miles from Horley town centre and close to Gatwick airport. Stewards were on hand to minimise delays to other drivers.

The protest comes just weeks after a local campaigner won permission for a judicial review of Surrey County Council’s decision in September last year to grant planning permission to produce oil at the site for 20 years – a move that could add an estimated 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

I feel I have to take action now. The climate is breaking down as we speak. Unless we urgently reduce our dependence on fossil fuels there is going to be global human suffering on a scale we have never seen before. New exploitation of oil, like this, taking place on our doorstep at Horse Hill, is sealing us into a terrifying future. The UK government and Surrey County Council have failed to act to prevent new oil development, despite acknowledging the emergency.
This protest is not fun. It is scary, but I feel I have a moral duty to do what I can for the sake of my children and future generations. This is a small peaceful protest and we are taking what measures we can to keep everyone around us safe by maintaining social distancing as far as possible and wearing face masks.

Kate James, 45, a protester from Brighton

We are at a point in time where we are on a precipice of climate break-down and the human race must take the right steps to prevent this.
This can only be avoided if we invest in renewable energy which is becoming cheaper and easier to harness.
The fact that the government is not doing all it can to prevent mass extinction, and continues to invest in the use of fossil fuels, is criminal.

For this reason I have come to protest by slow walking the oil industry lorries entering the site.

Brian Sandersen, aged 37, a Sussex-based scientist

We can no longer put our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening. The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, has warned that we need to plan for a 4 degree Celsius rise in temperature by the end of the century.
We are currently just over one degree and we are experiencing floods and wild fires. A 4 degree rise will be catastrophic. We have a chance after Covid-19 to change path and the urgency of the pandemic shows what is possible if there is a will.
Climate change is here for the foreseeable future. How we act now will decide what future we leave our children, future generations and al the other amazing species that share this incredible planet Earth with us.

Jack Bowden, environmentalist from Redhill
  • Campaigners have set up a crowdfunding appeal to cover the cost of the Judicial Review.
  • Donations can be made at https://chuffed.org/project/support-surrey-oil-legal-challenge

Live streaming at the site on https://www.facebook.com/XRSouthEastUK

Due to a civil injunction at the site protestors names are aliases. The civil injunction prohibits certain protests at UKOG sites. Its scope is currently being challenged in the courts.

Back to news

Previous posts

South East climate activists pour and spray fake oil at London offices linked to the fossil fuel economy

Mass action across London targeting web of organisations propping up the fossil fuel economy ·        Thirteen sites hit, including those of BP, JP Morgan, the Institute of Economic Affairs, BAE Systems and the Church Of England  ·        Protestors call for organisations to CUT THE TIES with the fossil fuel […]

Top scientists blockade UK and international private airports to demand end to obscene private jet use

Scientists and young climate campaigners are barricading multiple private airports across thirteen countries today (10 November), including Farnborough Airport  and London Luton Airport’s Harrods Terminal, to demand a total ban on all private jets and a tax on frequent flyers.

Stop the SLP

The SLP, ExxonMobil's new Southampton to London Heathrow aviation fuel pipeline, is cutting a swathe of destruction across South East England; putting planet and people before profit and enabling our government's ecocidal airport expansion plans.

Extinction Rebellion stops work on aviation fuel pipeline to Heathrow

Press Release : Extinction Rebellion stops work on aviation fuel pipeline to Heathrow.  Extinction Rebellion South East UK Photographs, please click here Livestream from around 10.00am and available afterwardshttps://www.facebook.com/XRSouthEastUK/Updates on twitter https://twitter.com/XrSouthEastUK For Immediate Publication — START — Funeral cortege of eco-protestors invade site to dig grave and mourn the climate destruction that the project […]

Code Red For Humanity

This is a real warning from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. What does this mean? Extreme weather events happening more frequently and more severely. crops failing around the world, prices rising in our supermarkets and huge swathes of our planet becoming unliveable. In our hearts, we all know that the balance of […]

ACTIONS ROUNDUP - February 2022

XR South East Actions Roundup February 2022

EXTINCTION REBELLION TARGETS AMAZON IN BLACK FRIDAY BLOCKADE

Amazon’s fulfilment centre at Dartford, Kent is being blocked by climate activists who are disrupting the company’s business on its busiest day of the year. The action is intended to draw attention to Amazon’s exploitation of its workers and environmentally destructive and wasteful business practices on Black Friday.

Extinction Rebellion blockades UK's largest private airport

Farnborough airport barricaded by activists locked to a stretch limousine, fuel barrels and a giant steel tripod in call for polluter elite to cut their emissions Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked all major entrances to Farnborough Airport in Hampshire today (2nd October) to protest against the shockingly high levels of CO2 that private flights emit per […]

LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE: Extinction Rebellion activists break into ExxonMobil Oil Refinery in Hampshire

Two Olympians use pink boat to blockade main entrance to Fawley Oil refinery as other activists swarm into site and scale two 50 foot oil silos Protestors demand Government listens to the people and bans all fossil fuels investments NOW Eco-campaigners have broken into ExxonMobil’s Fawley Oil terminal in Hampshire today (28 October), just three days […]

CPS drops case against eco-activists

CPS drops case against eco-activists who blockaded UKOG Horse Hill oil site  Public interest not served by prosecution, CPS rules  It is not in the public interest to prosecute two Extinction Rebellion activists who locked themselves together to block the entrance of the Horse Hill oil site near Gatwick in December 2019, the Crown Prosecution […]

search linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram