Eli London
Despite local and national opposition from residents, green groups, and political parties, extensive oil drilling is planned to take place in The South Downs.
Uncovered from July, a statement released by drilling hopefuls UK Oil and Gas estimates that 59m barrels of oil will be able to be extracted from the area up until 2025.
The Proposed Plans
Oil drilling previously took place at a nearby site near Winchester, Avington, but ceased production in 2017. Despite opposition from the Winchester Council and local Conservative MP Steve Brine, that decision has since been overturned on appeal by the Levelling Up Department’s Planning Inspectorate.
“It is scandalous that Conservative ministers have ignored the concerns of local people and environmental impacts when making this decision.”
This news comes amid heightened criticism of oil and gas drilling. British PM Rishi Sunak has also announnced drilling will commence in the North Sea.
🚨BREAKING: Ministers accused of an ‘ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME’ over plans for large-scale oil DRILLING in South Downs national park.
This government is so hell-bent on fossil fuels that it’s willing to IGNORE the concerns of local people and environmental impacts.
— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) August 23, 2023
The move in South Downs has been labelled ‘an environmental crime’ from local residents and the Liberal Democrats. Despite campaigns, another oil drilling scheme is likely to go ahead near an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the Surrey Hills after the judicial review was lost in July.
The government has told the public they intend to ‘max out’ all UK fossil fuel reserves regardless of campaigns and scientific advice on climate change. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, who previously opposed drilling at Surrey Hills, now declines comment.
The Harm of Oil Drilling
It is now almost wholly accepted that oil and gas operations release noxious and harmful gases into the atmosphere, and toxic pollutants into the surrounding land and eventually the sea. This leads to habitat degradation, a drop in quality of environment, and biodiversity loss.
“pressure groups are accusing the government of acting for profit”
It is estimated that visitors to the South Downs National Park spend almost £500 million each year and the area supports almost 8,000 jobs, which will undoubtedly be negatively impacted by future oil drilling. Pressure groups are accusing the government of acting for profit over people and the environment.
Photo post: Boomtown protest against Avington oil production https://t.co/y1o2beyPVE via @ruthhayhurst
— Peter Watson (@akamalaccas1) August 17, 2023
What is at risk?
The South Downs became a National Park in 2010 and is the sixth largest in the U.K. It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and a site of massive ecological importance.
It covers an area of over 600 square miles, incorporates two AONBs, and is home to extensive wildlife, ecological richness, and geology dating back 100 million years. The areas in the South Downs operations partitioned to be used for oil and gas will be destroyed completely.
Protests Against Oil
Climate activists have been increasingly vocal about the UK government’s approach to clean energy in the current climate crisis.
On 3 August, five Greenpeace members draped oil-black fabric over the Prime Ministers home in North Yorkshire. On 17 August, Extinction Rebellion (XR) staged a protest against the drilling at Boomtown Festival, which takes place not too far from the proposed site, on Matterley Estate.
There have been complaints about the festival’s excessive noise and waste. But those complaints will be far more significant from a drilling site than a three-day festival.
Has a crime been committed?
As it currently stands, there is little legislation that would make this a literal ‘environmental crime’ in the eyes of the legal system.
There have been considerable reforms in the last 30 years, such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. But these cover environmental crimes that individuals could carry out, not entire governments and independent bodies during the climate crisis.
Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr told The Guardian: “If there’s a wish from the 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.”
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Image courtesy of Mark via Flickr. Image licence found here. No changes were made to this image.
