Acland Bryant, of the Garden Court Environmental Law and Climate Justice Team, represents Stop Whitehead Oil Terminal (SWOT), instructed by Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS) Project Northern Ireland (NI).
Marc Willers KC, of the Garden Court Environmental Law and Climate Justice Team, is assisting the legal team.
The below content has been reproduced from an article on the PILS Project's website.
In April, Mid & East Antrim Borough Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the Cloghan Point oil terminal expansion left the Whitehead community in shock.
Not only is it a potential risk to the environment, the oil terminal’s proposed redevelopment also raises major concerns about decision-making in Northern Ireland.
The Stop Whitehead Oil Terminal (SWOT) group is taking legal action demanding answers to vital public interest questions.
Questions like: how can this project move forward when NI’s Climate Change Act contains a clear net zero commitment? And why are local communities forced to take legal action, while ministerial ‘call in’ powers to scrutinise major decisions are left unused?
On 24 July 2024, SWOT lodged an application with the High Court, requesting permission to judicially review the Council’s decision to approve the expansion plans.
On 27 June 2024, SWOT lodged an application for judicial review, challenging the Department for Infrastructure’s failure to ‘call in’ the decision.
SWOT’s sustained advocacy on this issue has already received widespread media attention, from multiple BBC News NI correspondents, the Belfast Telegraph and Belfast Live.
The next step in the process is for the High Court to consider if the application is being granted leave to proceed to a full judicial review hearing.
The High Court has confirmed it will review SWOT’s judicial review application against the Department for Infrastructure in September 2024.
