QB-2022-001098 - [2025] EWHC 1768 (KB)

The injunction was originally obtained by the Claimants in 2022 in response to environmental protest campaigns. The injunction protects various sites (“the Sites”), which include an oil refinery, fuel terminals, logistic hubs, and compounds across the United Kingdom. The Sites form a significant element of the national energy infrastructure. The Fawley site, for instance, is the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom, providing 20% of the nation’s refinery capacity.

The history of protest action at these Sites and elsewhere is well-documented in the evidence, including in the statements of Mr. Anthony Milne, Mr. Stuart Sherbrooke Wortley, Mr. Nawaaz Allybokus, and Mr. Martin Pullman. These statements describe the significant problems experienced by the Claimants, not as isolated events, but as part of a wider pattern of "direct action" at oil terminals across the country. The Sites are mainly complex industrial units which process or store substantial amounts of volatile and highly flammable material capable of being released in liquid or vapour form. The sites are secure and subject to stringent safety measures and protocols which would not be apparent to a member of the public. They therefore involve managed risk. The consequences of any of the risks involved eventuating present a clear and significant danger to those who work at or visit the Sites, anyone entering unlawfully or protesting at the Sites and, not least, the local population and environment.

On 19 July 2023, Linden J granted "final" relief, imposing an injunction effective for a period of five years, subject to annual review (“the Linden Order”). Subsequently, on 29 January 2024, Ellenbogen J reviewed the Linden Order, prior to its first annual review, to consider whether any changes were necessary in the light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Wolverhampton CC v. London Gypsies & Travellers [2024] AC 983 (“Wolverhampton”). Ellenbogen J concluded that no changes were required, granting similar relief with minor "tidying up" in relation to one area no longer requiring protection and another where previously unregistered land had become registered (“the Ellenbogen Order”). The first annual review hearing took place on 10 July 2024 before Tipples J, who concluded that there had been no material change in circumstances warranting the discharge or amendment of the injunction. She ordered that it continued unchanged. D4 and D5 were, as previously, "carved out" of the injunctions due to assurances they had provided.