A WARNING to Surrey County Council that it would be “wildly irresponsible” after agreeing a Climate Change Emergency to approve exploratory oil drilling at Dunsfold, was delivered by most of the 22 speakers at Waverley Borough Council’s ‘listening panel’.

Speakers urged Waverley councillors to object to two applications by UK Oil and Gas (UKOG).

They protested that approval would set a precedent for a “new oil rush” across the South East.

UKOG was invited to Tuesday’s meeting but did not attend the three-hour session, which heard concerns fracking would be involved.

Panel chairman Steve Williams (Green Party, Godalming) said: “This is such an important issue, a technical response will not do justice to genuine concerns.

“We will include a second part to capture the concerns of local people about how the proposed drilling will impact on the community.”

The panel focused on UKOG’s applications for exploratory drilling on a green field close to Lydia Park travellers site.

Leading UK company IGas is poised to submit its own exploration bid on another greenfield site just up the road in Loxhill off the Godalming Road.

Speaker Ashley Herman, whose farm is 226 metres away from UKOG’s proposed well, protested it was “the tip of the iceberg”.

Mr Herman said that the threat of water pollution would ruin his brewery business and completely undermine his annual international cancer awareness festival.

Chris Lindesay, former risk assessor and owner of Dunsfold’s Sun Inn pub, warned if UKOG’s Dunsfold experiment failed it could not afford the restoration costs and Surrey should insist on a security bond between £7.5m and £9m.

Agreeing, Haslemere risk manager Jennifer Condit said UKOG was a “risky” applicant and did not have support in the market.