Gas drilling will go ahead in Jeremy Hunt’s Surrey constituency after locals lose High Court bid to block it

Gas drilling will go ahead in Jeremy Hunt’s Surrey constituency after locals lost a High Court bid to block it.

Residents of Dunsfold had brought legal action against a decision to allow an exploratory gas well to be dug near the village, which has a population of just over 1,000.

The proposed site is located in the Surrey Hills, in an Area of Great Landscape Value, and sits on the border of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

The Chancellor had called the move ‘bitterly disappointing and wrong both economically and environmentally’.

But in a ruling yesterday, Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed the bids against the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and UK Oil and Gas.

Jeremy Hunt had condemned the decision to allow oil exploration in his constituency in the ‘strongest possible terms’

Gas drilling will now go ahead near Dunsfold Aerodrome, which is best known as the former test track for TV show Top Gear

Lawyers for Protect Dunsfold said they were considering an appeal as the case was ‘directly comparable’ to another gas drilling proposal near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, dismissed due to climate change.

In June 2022, the Government overturned Surrey County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for a project planned by UK Oil & Gas Plc. 

The site is near Dunsfold Aerodrome, known as the location of the former test track of TV show Top Gear.

At the time, Mr Hunt wrote to Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove to condemn the move to allow gas exploration in the ‘strongest possible terms’.

The South West Surrey MP’s protest was supported by fellow Tory Angela Richardson who represents Guildford constituency.