British charity National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) is – for now – standing down in the dispute over the right of olefins and polyolefins giant Ineos (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com) to conduct seismic studies for shale gas exploration on the charity’s Clumber Park property in Nottinghamshire. At the same time, it has vowed to continue opposing fracking at the site, whatever Ineos Shale, UK arm of the Swiss group, finds. In February 2018, the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA; www.ogauthority.co.uk), which enjoys the support of the British government, gave Ineos the all-clear to take charity to the UK’s High Court over its refusal to provide access to the park – see Plasteurope.com of 27.02.2018. The decision to back away from a court battle, National Trust said, has been taken after "extensive legal effort and carefully considering all the evidence available".

"Our position has not changed; we oppose fracking at Clumber Park," said Andy Beer, National Trust’s director of the Midlands. “Despite our best efforts to explain why Clumber Park is so sensitive and such an inappropriate site, Ineos is intent on pursuing access to survey at the site. We think it is wrong that we, or any other landowner, should be compelled to admit surveys at a place as special and loved as this,” he added. “The trust has demanded that Ineos provide assurances that these surveys will not damage this special place,” Beer said. “It is important to make the distinction between carrying out seismic surveys to search for shale gas, and fracking.”

Large parts of the park, carved out of the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood lore, are designated as a UK site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and a Grade I-registered park and garden. According to National Trust, the site that counts 600,000 visitors every year is home to rare wildlife such as cuckoos, lesser spotted woodpeckers, marsh tits, yellow hammer and lesser redpoll. Ineos has pledged to “fully restore the land” if any damage is caused to the park by its testing. Should tests reveal sufficient shale gas in Clumber Park, the next clinch between the charity and the chemical producer is sure to come. In an earlier communication, Ineos said that if National Trust refused to allow it to drill, it could call on the courts again. Alternatively, it could drill sideways under the estate from a site just outside the boundary.

British commentators said the tug-of-war between the British charity and Ineos shows how difficult it is to protect sites of special significance from applications by oil and gas companies to search for shale gas. This especially as the government is clearly willing to let fracking firms use the Mines Act of 1966 to secure access, and the grounds on which the landowners can object are limited. Kenelm Storey, president of a local conservation association in Yorkshire told the business newspaper Financial Times he is “desperately worried” about allowing fracking on his land because of the residual liability for any environmental damage that emerges in an abandoned shale gas well in the years after the drilling licence expires. Storey said that Ineos’ taking on a public body like National Trust in such a high profile manner means that it is demonstrating its readiness to take legal action should landowners deny access.