Watch for a political earthquake in middle England, as Liz Truss breaks up the Tory bedrock
Deep in the rolling hills of the Surrey commuter belt lies a narrow, winding lane overhung with trees. Halfway down the bridleway that leads off it, Sarah Godwin points out the barn one of her farming neighbours has converted into a wedding venue. Brides and grooms use this unspoilt view, over grazing sheep and ancient woodland to the beauty spot of Hascombe Hill, as the backdrop for wedding photographs. But soon, that view might include an oilwell.
This summer, ministers granted permission for exploratory drilling here, overruling objections from the Conservative-controlled county council and local Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt.
What is proposed just outside the village of Dunsfold isn’t fracking, since it doesn’t involve fracturing rock by pumping water through at high pressure, although hackles still rose locally when Liz Truss lifted the national ban on fracking last week.
Villagers already rattled by plans to build 1,800 houses nearby now fear tankers rumbling down their narrow roads, pollution and potential impacts on house prices and the landscape. But they’re also baffled by the logic of drilling for oil in a climate crisis. “We need to be looking at ways to cut back on fossil fuels, not spending time and money getting more out of the ground,” says Godwin, a veteran of Greenpeace protests in her native New Zealand and co-founder of the action group Protect Dunsfold, now seeking a judicial review of the drilling decision. UK Oil & Gas has offered the village a cut of the profits if it hits oil. But in affluent areas like this, does money trump peace of mind?
The illuminating thing about the deal on offer to Dunsfold – painful upheaval now, in return for vague promises of riches later – is that it’s the one Truss is
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