[Closed] Leith Hill to be Drilled for Oil !! - Deadline for Objections 9th August 2009

What's the problem - got to come from somewhere and you can bet there will be planning restrictions up to the ceiling to make sure it's sensitivly done.

NIMBYism.

(and yes, I do live near by and yes I do ride on Leith hill).

As I understand it, its more a matter of retaining exploration rights rather than of any actual intention to carry out exploration.

I ride up there also. I have not signed this, chiefly because someone pointed out to me it would not be the first oil well in the area. As I had never, for a second, noticed the others I figure this will not be the Destroyer of Worlds. Oh, and NIMBYs boil my piss. 🙂

I think I read somewhere that it isn't actually on Leith Hill?

Good point big dummy - you litterally have to ride past the other ones in the area to spot them.

Similar to people who object to mobile masts and then moan about the lack of signal...

Lets hope someone doenst find oil close to Ewans house and of course he wont be upset if finding the oil has an impact on his home's valuation.

Worse than NIMBY is those that can cast stones and judgement as long as it doesnt affect their own owned house/land. People do live near there and christ there are soo many bloody remote places in the world to source for oil.

I love the fact that the main objection these people have to oil drilling in the area is that for a few days it will inhibit them driving their petrol powered cars down the lane.

Joe

Are the NIMBY comments because you are jealous of the houses people own round there?

[i]Worse than NIMBY is those that can cast stones and judgement as long as it doesnt affect their own owned house/land. People do live near there and christ there are soo many bloody remote places in the world to source for oil. [/i]

Remind us where you live that gives you the right to dribble out opinions on this subject? Manchester, is it? 😉

True. Maybe I shouldn't care about Sun Yi or other world issue either 😉

And I think the Iraqis, Kazakhs, Sudanese, Saudis, Venezuelans, polar bears and other poor bastards living under your "remote places" might have a view on you wishing Surrey's oil barons on them as well. 😉

One point about Nimbys, if people who live nearby don't object who else is going to? People in Manchester?

Nimbyism has to exist as its mainly only locals that care

To qualify my interest; I've not ridden there for years but used to.

Why drill for yet more oil? It is a finite resource and found in very limited pockets around the south coast. Just get on with developing something sustainable for the future and have done with it.

Petition signed.

I've signed. It's a designated AONB. Why give it a designation which says it's to be preserved cos it brings pleasure to people. And then ignore the designation?

mtbfix - beat me to it.

Nimbyism has to exist as its mainly only locals that care

Agree- get to work on renewable energy. Where does it end? A drilling platform in every town and village?

Yes I live in Manchester but I dont want to see an area that I like have this on its doorstep. Sorry. Ive met a few locals, including a family who were teaching their son the values of charity by organising a drinks stall at the gates of their property. Many cyclists carried on riding passed when I had stopped, bought some Lemonade and shot the breeze with them. Their house was bloody big, old and on alot of grounds but they didnt act snooty with me, just chatted and chilled. Guess its all 'us and them' isnt it?

Indeed, but [i]all[/i] locals care everywhere. No-one is desperate to have a tiny and inconspicuous oil-well in their back-yard. But if there's oil under there, and someone wants it, then endlessly grumbling that there's oil somewhere else that they could drill for instead doesn't really help.

FWIW, my house is just along from a waste-energy plant development that some people are getting their knickers in a twist over. I am happy to believe that it needs to go somewhere, and my back yard seems to be as good a place as any.

And in any case, as noted, it'll not be very noticeable, and then it will disappear when the tiny deppsits of oil they're after have been exhausted. Of course, if everyone would rather they covered Leith Hill in some of those beautiful wind turbines to catch the brisk breeze that's always blowing up there... 😉

As a local (ex Coldharbour now living in Capel) resident, I think the main concern of the villagers in Coldharbour is the site of the drilling not the fact that the oil is to be extracted.

If you all know the area as you say you do then why drill in the proposed (difficult to get to with large lorries/tankers)site when you could just as easily drill in from just off the A24 Dual Carrigeway thus solving all the potential traffic problems that is the main concern of most objectors.

This would have the added advantage of protecting the AONB and not having a flare mast on top of one of the highest points in South Eastern England.

There is a huge gas storage tank not far from my house. Indeed they have to go somewhere. Not in a place of tranquility, reflection and beauty IMO.

On the term NIMBY. Hate that term. Everyone who pays council tax/taxes in general should have the right to say what then is put into their environment around them. Its a Democracy after all.

But there's a difference between siting a gas storage facility (which can go in any old shithole) and siting an oil well, which has to go somewhere near an oil field... 🙂

If ybot is correct and there is in fact a better way of getting at the same deposit then that would clearly be preferable.

hora -
There is a huge gas storage tank not far from my house.

Don't be so harsh on yourself.

NIMBYs are normally hyprocrites in my experience. I suspect that pretty much everyone living in that area has a two cars at a minimum, and my impression is that they're not ultra high mpg vechicles either.

I can't say i'd particularly care if someone drilled for oil near me, from memory the proposed site isn't close enough to anyones house to cause the value to plummet. And forgive me if I don't shed too many tears that someones million quid home is now worth 50k less.

Did you sign the petition hora? Given you live in manchester?

I was referring to someone who had oil or similar drilled close to their own house Ewan. Would you object if a mobile mast was errected <100m's to your own home?

Would you object if a mobile mast was errected <100m's to your own home?

Surely this is about 500m from any houses, and the only real thing that people are objecting over is people driving lorries down the lane, thus making it inconvenient for them to drive their cars down the lane?

Joe

Chances of anything commercially viable are slim anyway.. many exploration wells have been drilled and lots of exploration seismic has been shot all over the UK with only a small % yielding anything of commercial interest. So fingers crossed!

Yep, It would cost the oil exploraton company a bit more money, thats about it though. Take a look at the map on the virtualvillage website linked above and you'll see what I mean. Somewhere around Mid / South Holmwood /Beare Green would seem more sensible to me and by that I don't mean right in the villages but in the land between them and the lower slopes of Leith Hill.

Hora - I have a mobile mast about 50m from my home and another one about 150m away. I have excellent reception here.

Joe, you are right, lorries are the main objection and whatever you may think surely you can see that Coldharbour Lane is really not that appropriate for lorries - its the danger aspects of this traffic that is of most concern. As my previous post, can you please tell me why drilling from a site accessable from the A24 duel carrigeway isn't being put forward.

Ewan, your remarks seem wide of the mark and rather childish not to say of little relavence, does it really matter what someones house is worth and what car they drive !

ybot - I was responding to Hora. I don't really care if someone's house goes up in value, falls in value, or stays the same.

My point is that the oil has to come from somewhere - why not here? How is that wide of the mark? It's not going to appear from no where from the oil fairy is it? Clearly the site that has been suggested is a good site to proceed on, otherwise the company wouldn't be pursuing it, I'd strongly suggest that you're not qualified to suggest other sites, however if you do have access to the relevant geological mapping and expertise then I stand corrected.

"But there's a difference between siting a gas storage facility (which can go in any old shithole)"

So Albury is a "shithole" then? I take it the 10km gas pipeline that is being planned from Albury gas storage facility over the North Downs isn't a problem for you then?

As far as I can see, the Holmwood prospect (PEDL143) is a known prospect with gas being present more likley than oil - the oil estimates that I have seen range between 4 and 22mmbol and basically they need to drill an appraisal well before having to relinquish the block. The structure has been mapped from a producing well not far away and the reservoir pinches out at Holmwood. If they drill from a site
accessible from the A24 then it isn't going to tell them the areal extent of the propect.

However I do agree that the area does not have the infrastructure to accomodate the amount of lorries/traffic for this project.

Oh, I might now live in Manchester but I still ride the Surrey Hills when down in London. I dont beleive the roads/area is safe for road cyclists, car drivers or other uses considering.
Ewan, you're allowed an opinion. As is everyone. Rolling out the 'yeah mate you need oil for your car' is abit of a basic arguement though. There are many considerations to consider and the Surrey hills will never be a rival to the oil fields of Iraq/Iran etc etc. I feel the Exploration company is looking to make a relatively small profit compared to a big global business?

[i]So Albury is a "shithole" then?[/i]

Not particularly, I was purely insulting hora's place of abode out of unalloyed malice. No serious point was intended. 😉

How is 'you need oil for your car' any more a basic argument than 'oooo, it's not suitable for the area'? At least the former is more quantifable.

Are you telling me that the photos on that website are likely to be representative of the actual situation? e.g.

[img] [/img]

or

[img] [/img]

The collary of your final point (it's a small profit), presumably means that you think all corner shops should be shut down and replaced with tesco megastores?

I need that oil out of the the ground so that I can drive to a trail park every weekend for as long as possible. Don't care were they drill just keep it flowing. Surrey, Alaska, who cares? Ironic or moronic, you choose.

[i]Rolling out the 'yeah mate you need oil for your car' is abit of a basic arguement though. There are many considerations to consider and the Surrey hills will never be a rival to the oil fields of Iraq/Iran etc etc. [/i]

Like, do we have to fight a bloody war to get hold of the fabled Coldharbour fields? Will the population of Mole Valley welcome our troops as liberators or fight a guerilla campaign against them from the copses and barns? Will we be outbid for the contracts by Chinese conglomerates when we have established a Western-friendly parish council in Coldharbour? Can we get the oil through the Suez canal alright? Is Coldharbour politically stable? Shall we bomb some orphanages? That kind of stuff? 😉

So really, the reference to Albury being a shithole should really refer to whichever bit of the Greater Manchester conurbation that hora lives in?
On a side note, is there any chance of Albury "going up" like Bunsfield then?

The point, such as it was, is that you can choose freely where to put a gas storage facility, or a waste incinerator, or a lap-dancing club or all sorts of other things that people complain about having near them. If you put an oil well somewhere convenient that everyone is happy with that's fine, but there may not be any oil nearby. 🙂

.....but I watched that "Crude Britannia" series and they did it all in the North Sea, please daddy why don't they drill this well in the North Sea?

Oh, I rather see your point.

" is there any chance of Albury "going up" like Bunsfield then?"
Possibly but then so could Send Prison.....

The geological formation that provides the reservoir is a known producer of both oil and gas having a producing well at Brockham to the north - gas being more likely in the well at Holmwood rather than oil - the operators just need to know the areal extent of the reservoir, how much is in the reservoir and is it econommically viable to extract?

Div nae worry, nae oil there 😉

aP, I live near where two lads were shot dead and a family put in intensive care after being followed home after a road incident and beaten senseless in their own home.

Guess its a wee bit different from the Surrey Hills. 😀

As someone who does live there (well Abinger Common, and orginally Friday Street) I would just like to point out that the protesters have done themselves no credit by pretending that this is on the top of Leith Hill. It is barely on Leith Hill at all - the site is separated from Leith Hill proper by quite a broad valley. It is actually on the opposite side of the road to the proper (old) Redlands, if anyone knows that.

I've even read a comment from a mountain biker suggesting the light pollution from the flare and installation lights would spoil their night ride! What a joke - for a start I seriously doubt they have ridden in that wood (I actually have, prob about twice ever) and secondly the biggest polluters of woodland night light are the HID brigade.

I've even read a comment from a mountain biker suggesting the light pollution from the flare and installation lights would spoil their night ride! What a joke

Yup...the ill informed! They will only flare when well testing (i.e. at the very last stage of the drilling process), so a very short time indeed. And as someone who works on the rigs, the derrick lights are hardly bright enough to cause major problems. It's not gonna be like close encounters of the third kind!!! 😉

glenp - Don't know where you read the comment about the flare spoiling night riding, that really seems to be rather a silly argument. Also I don't see where the protesters are claiming that the site is on top of Leith Hill. Perhaps the well should be put in Abinger Common somewhere ! as you point out it has no implications for the local community, Abinger Common is actually on Leith Hill and is more accessable from the A25 so has better transport links - sounds like a fairly ideal spot.

As for the proposed site, I can confirm it is used by mountain bikers regularly, on average I will be in that area at least once a week, there are several roll ins in that wood and A jump/play area used a lot by Nirvana, this in know way means its the wrong site, that is for other reasons, it does however mean that perhaps you should take the bike there a little more often.

Lastly, Abinger Common and Friday street are on the other side of the hill and this proposed site would have no effect on either of those places either visually or with increased traffic. My main objection is that the roads are simply not suitable for any kind of high level of large vehicles (yes I wish fewer of the locals had large 4x4's which are unecessary)and that it will have a negative impact on a AONB which is allready under hugh pressure from all kinds of other things.

As said before,(geology allowing and I'm sure in this day and age that wouldn't be a problem after all it would be drilling from the same sandstone rock strata)I just don't understand why a site off the A24 can't be used giving much better access, possibly outside the AONB and at a lower alltitude. Its not the fact that oil is being extracted that the protesters don't agree with, its just the proposed site.

Fair enough if more people use that wood these days - I haven't been there in years. Most people go the Leith Hill itself, and a few are going back to proper Redlands on the other side of the road, I know. I tend to ride on this side of Leith, plus Hurtwood, so fair enough.

The implication that the site is on Leith Hill is everywhere, and I think when people see where it actually is they will think there is a big difference. I wouldn't want it actually IN Abinger Common, but there again it isn't actually IN Coldharbour either! If it was as far from my village (and other houses) as it is from the village of Coldharbour then I honestly don't think I would object. There isn't really a comparable wood on this side of the hill, so that's a bit abstract.

I agree that a site closer to A24 (or more likely A29) would be much better though - the oil itself is apparently under the landslip, so Ockley side would make more sense.

Maybe I was being a bit argumentative, but whenever this has been mentioned to me in conversation virtually everyone thinks it is on Leith Hill.

Just come across your forum - which was was top referrer to the campaign website [url= http://www.thevirtualvillage.com ]www.thevirtualvillage.com[/url] in August. I am webmaster for that site, so thanks! My personal comments about this thread are:

I'd call the proposed drill site "on Leith Hill" myself (I live in centre of Coldharbour). A map of the proposed drill site has been on the campaign site since day one and it's never been claimed as being "at the top of Leith Hill" because it isn't.

The campaign is silent about whether exploring for hydrocarbons (per se) is good or bad - for the simple reason that this is irrelevant to the planning authority (SCC). Only objections "on planning grounds" count. That's the law.

I don't think that the majority of (resident) objectors rate disruption to their personal use of Coldharbour Lane (the proposed access route for HGVs) as highly as the (probable?) permanent damage to it. Most mountain bikers will have cycled up Coldharbour Lane; I'm personally concerned about damage that the HGVs will cause to the banks and trees. See photo on campaign website.

My [b]personal[/b] objection letter to SCC asked them to also consider the danger to the many mountain bikers who use Coldharbour Lane to get to their favourite rides (on "Leith Hill proper" if you wish). The applicant has proposed a traffic control system (shutting the lane as each HGV - thousands over the XX weeks of the exploration - goes up or down). The traffic survey that they did counted cars etc but not cyclists. For clarity, the lane would not be used by HGVs Saturday pm or all day Sunday.

There are other locations from which exploration could take place. The oil industry uses "directional drilling" (i.e. they don't have to drill straight down). My personal opinion is that the applicant chose the proposed drill site because it is the cheapest location to explore from.

Good thread though! Keep posting!