The Liberal Democrats and green groups have accused the government of “an environmental crime” after it emerged that potentially large-scale oil drilling is to take place inside the South Downs national park, despite widespread local opposition.
In a statement, UK Oil and Gas, which is part of the consortium wishing to drill at the Avington site near Winchester, said work was to resume in the hope of extracting “potentially significant” amounts of the estimated 59m barrels there, lasting up to 2025.
Drilling had taken place previously at the site, but was shut down in 2017, with the South Downs park authority subsequently refusing permission for it to resume.
However, this was reversed on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate, an agency of the Levelling Up Department, meaning the oil extraction can resume. The plan is also opposed by Winchester council, and by the local Conservative MP, Steve Brine.
UK Oil and Gas is also involved in a separate scheme to drill for oil and gas near an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Surrey Hills, which is likely to go ahead after campaigners lost a judicial review.
Jeremy Hunt had previously expressed opposition to drilling at the Surrey Hills site, but as chancellor in Rishi Sunak’s government, which has pledged to “max out” UK fossil fuel reserves despite warnings from scientists and green groups, now declines to comment.
The Lib Dems are hopeful of using local opposition to such schemes as part of efforts to unseat MPs in Surrey, and are heavily targeting Brine’s constituency, held by the Conservatives in 2019 by less than 1,000 votes.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said: “Selling off national park land to rich oil barons is an environmental crime and must be stopped. Yet this Conservative government is making a habit of it. The government risks destroying wildlife habitat and ruining a popular walking route just to let this firm make a quick buck.
“It is scandalous that Conservative ministers have ignored the concerns of local people and environmental impacts when making this decision.”
Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, said: “This government is so hell-bent on fossil fuels that it’s now willing to trash many of the things it is said to hold dear, like our cherished national parks and community consent.
“Despite being the cheapest, cleanest energy source there is, onshore renewable projects are blocked if so much as one person objects. It beggars belief then that the government can overrule the very sensible decision of a council to reject an application for more oil drilling in a national beauty spot, during a climate crisis.”
Brine told the Guardian he was concerned at the idea of the drilling taking place amid local opposition.
“Given it’s, rightly, rather hard to do anything in a national park including scale up a really well-run summer festival, it doesn’t sit well you can secure permission to drill for oil,” he said.
“If there’s a wish from landowner and applicant to do this, given the sensitivities, it should only be possible with some form of local consent and right now I don’t see that.”
The Levelling Up Department was contacted for comment.
