Oil 'wasteland' fears examined

by David Fuller
BBC News Online, Southampton

The discovery of the UK's largest on-shore oil field at Avington near Winchester has led to concerns among some residents that their rolling green hills could be replaced by an industrial wasteland.

BBC News Online takes a look at another 'oil village' only 15 miles away to see whether these fears are justified.

The site could be producing oil by the end of the year

Shortly after the Avington discovery, Alison Matthews, chairman of Itchen Valley Parish Council, called the find "an unwelcome development".

Sarah Bullen, owner of nearby Avington park house, told a national newspaper the discovery was: "A day of sadness for the community".

"We are a tiny village and to have tankers and industrial machinery lugging oil away will be noisy and add to the traffic here," she said.

However, the company behind the development, Pentex, claims disruption to the community will be minimal.

It says the site is not near any roads and extraction would amount to only five tankers per day.

The experience of villagers in Stockbridge, a previous holder of the 'biggest onshore oil field' title, seems to back this up.

I guess I'm from the younger generation and from what I've heard it won't be that bad - I'm going to wait and see Emma Howe

Pentex have been operating there for more than ten years and residents seem to have few complaints about the oil company's operations.

Roger Tym, vice-chairman of Stockbridge Parish Council, said the only disruption the village noticed were some small explosions during initial survey work 15 years ago.

"The site isn't visible and the traffic is minimal - and the company built their own road into the site for the tankers - a lot of people probably don't know it's there," he said.

Freda Stone, who does the accounts for the farmer who owns the land containing the Stockbridge well, said most people had forgotten it was there.

"You can't see it, it's off in the woods - a lot of people don't even know about it," she said.

'Gushing geysers'

Jeff Graham, district manager for Pentex, thinks residents' fears are based on a misunderstanding of the process.

"People get this idea of a John Wayne film with big gushing geysers of oil, but it's not like that at all," he said.

"There's a massive difference between onshore and offshore drilling - like the North Sea. Offshore, the reservoirs are much bigger and they're under pressure, so the oil comes to the surface 'under it's own steam' so to speak.

"Onshore, the amounts of oil are smaller, and it has to be assisted to the surface.

Pentex's operations at Stockbridge passed many locals by

"It's much more environmentally-friendly and the risk of a leak is negligible."

Judging by conversations in the pubs around the Avington site, it would be wrong to suggest that this is a community up in arms at the prospect of an oil well on their doorstep.

Emma Howe of the Trout Inn said most regulars did not seem too troubled by the idea.

"There's a lot of people in the village from an older generation who like to moan about any change," she said.

"I guess I'm from the younger generation and from what I've heard it won't be that bad - I'm going to wait and see."

Homelands festival

Sandra Burrows, assistant manager of the Percy Hobbs pub, said her main concern was whether the development could threaten the Homelands dance festival, held on the same estate each May.

"It's by far our biggest weekend of the year. If it was cancelled it would affect lots of people round here, and in Winchester itself."

The owner of the land, Peveril Bruce, said that although it was on the same estate, the festival was far enough away from the proposed drilling to be unaffected.

Pentex have still to apply for a licence from Hampshire County Council for a permit to begin production at the site.