Concern has been raised in southern England after permission to drill for oil was granted to a petroleum company on the South Downs. Environmental groups are angry that the local council is allowing such a development on a designated area of outstanding natural beauty.

West Sussex County Council granted permission earlier this year for Northern Petroleum to sink a test well in Markwells Wood, an ancient woodland outside the village of Forestside, near Chichester. The company reportedly became interested in drilling in the area after oil prices started to soar.

Conservation groups opposed to the plans claim that the drilling - which will destroy over two acres of woodland in an area which is likely to become part of the South Downs National Park - amounts to an act of environmental vandalism. But the council, contrary to its own ecologist and landscape officers objecting to the scheme, decided that the application met all legal requirements and approved it on the understanding that the company will replace and enhance the woodland when it has finished working on the site.

Notice the use of the word “understanding” - rather than “obligation”!

A spokesman for the Woodland Trust, said: “This is in ancient woodland which we consider to be irreplaceable. It’s our richest habitat for species in the UK and we would consider it as the equivalent, in terms of importance, to a rainforest.”

Meanwhile a director of Friends of the Earth, added: “This application is a further symptom of our dependence on dwindling oil resources. Sooner or later we must wean our society off oil and the quicker we do so the better.”

In addition, a director for the South Downs Society, an environmental pressure group, said: “The damage to habitat, destruction of trees and hedgerows, the visual impact of the drilling tower and its lighting, construction of a new access through the wood, noise from vehicles: all of this is inappropriate in the Downs, where people go for peace and quiet.”

Yet despite the comments of respected environmentalists, a spokesman for West Sussex County Council is quoted as saying that the area was not as important as some were making out. “Technically it is ancient woodland, but to look at it you would not regard it as a very important piece of land,” he said.

“We granted permission for oil to be drilled for two reasons: one is that there is a national policy in favour of extracting minerals from the earth where we have them; and secondly because we have struck a deal with the company which will actually see the area of woodland improved when they are finished.”

The construction of the 120-feet high exploration rig will involve clearance of part of the wood and the building of a temporary access road and will take three months. Northern Petroleum has temporary consent for construction, drilling and testing for a period of three years, but they will need consent to remove the reserves if enough oil is found.

What happens next, if commercially viable quantities of oil are found, is anyone’s guess!

Yet it is no secret that the oil beneath the North Sea is becoming increasingly expensive to extract. In 2006, Britain changed from being a net exporter of oil to a net importer. Last year, the country produced 1.8 million barrels a day but used more and so had to import 145,000 barrels daily. This year, it is expected that the production rate will drop to 1.5m barrels a day and so 310,000 barrels will have to be imported. This means that the country is now spending £3bn a year on importing oil, compared to earning £3bn a year from exports, as it was in 2001.

Land & People concurs with those who believe that even if oil is found in commercial quantities, the likely effect on South Downs habitats - together with the likely short life of any such enterprise, gives rise to the question: “is it worth it”? We suspect not!