The government has overruled a Conservative council to approve drilling for gas on the edge of the Surrey Hills.
Stuart Andrew, the housing minister, said UK Oil and Gas could conduct exploratory drilling for three years at a location near the hills, which are designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The project is vociferously opposed by Jeremy Hunt, the local MP, and was twice rejected by Surrey County Council, which is run by Conservatives. But after a public inquiry last year recommended that the plan for the non-fracking gas well should go ahead, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities agreed.
Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, recused himself from the decision as his constituency is nearby.
Andrew’s decision accepted that “the proposal would result in harm to the landscape character and appearance of the area and degrade the qualities of the setting of the AONB”, but concluded that this was “tempered by the short-term nature of the proposals.”
