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This week
Saturday 27 September Repeated Thursday 2 October
Elinor Goodman goes in search of oil in West Sussex and discovers why this part of the world could be closer to Texas than we might think
This weeks Open Country takes on the heated problem of onshore oil deposits in and around the South Downs. It's an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but the same woodlands which make up the landscape could now be in demand as screens for oil rigs. In May of this year Northern Petroleum was granted a temporary license to test for oil in Markwells Wood in the village of Forestside, near Chichester. It will add to a number of rigs already operating in the area such as Singleton Oil Well. Once drilling is finished, the sites must be cleared, replanted with trees and shrubs, and looked after for five years. Despite this The Woodland Trust said the Markwells Wood license was "an act of vandalism on our natural heritage" on an "irreplaceable" site. Their view is that: "Ancient woodland is the richest habitat for species in the UK, the UK's equivalent of rainforests. The complex undisturbed soils are irreplaceable and once destroyed, are lost forever." Meanwhile the Council officers and committee who granted the license were told there was a "clear and overriding need" for oil exploration and that the development accorded with the National Minerals Policy. The Country Land And Business Association have been keen to point out the economic benefits such a project might have for the immediate area and argue that we have to be pragmatic if we want to stay on the road. Whilst the South Downs Society feel that this area is far too vital a part of our natural heritage and we lose it at our peril. It seems there is no simple answer to the weighty problem of fossil fuel or even to why oil is now being found in this region.
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