DIVIDED BY OIL – SAVED BY THE SUN
want to raise enough money, through personal savings and share issues, to put solar panels on roofs until they generate enough electricity for the village. Later this summer, 90 panels will go up on the roof of farmer Chris Jarvis’s cowshed. From villages harnessing the power of mountain streams to hamlets powering their heating systems through wood-fired boilers, community renewableenergy schemes are on the rise. About 5,000 groups across the country have been set up within the past five years. What makes this scheme in Sussex so interesting is that it is in Balcombe, the village torn apart last summer when Cuadrilla conducted oildrilling tests here. Cuadrilla has since said it will not be “fracking” for oil as the local geology is unsuitable, but many villagers still feel uneasy. The exploratory drilling polarised opinion in this quintessential rural community with its pub, shop, church and primary school. There have been awkward moments on the railway station platform and in church as “pros” and “antis”, once friends, now find themselves in opposing camps. “The protest last summer was the biggest thing to happen to Balcombe since the First and Second World Wars, and, before that, since the railway arrived,” says Balcombe biology teacher Jackie Emery. “I daren’t mention it in the hairdressers in case someone takes offence.” “Those of us who opposed the oil-drilling scheme needed an answer to people who asked us what we would do when the lights go out,” says Charles Metcalfe, founding member of village group Repower Balcombe. “Well, this is our answer. We’re digging into our own pockets for the first installation, which will cost £30,000, and will be offering a share issue for subsequent ones. The dividend will be better than you get from a bank, and Sussex is very sunny.” The group is pooling local expertise. Technical director Tom Parker already generates enough electricity for his own needs on his garage roof, above his immaculate garden. Supporters of the solarpanel scheme hope that, after a year of bitter division and name calling, the initiative will help the healing process. Among these is the Rev Desmond Burton, the priest in charge of the medieval stone church of St Mary’s. His congregation consists of both supporters and opponents of the oil-drilling scheme, and for several months last year his flock was deeply divided. “The speed at which unhappiness overtook us caught us all by surprise,” he says. “But Balcombe is a very understanding and thoughtful village, and many of us who tried to remain neutral during the oil-drilling controversy think that the solar panels idea is brilliant.” The Parish Council also Ecos Organic Paints: Masonry Paint Five Litres: Paint your exterior walls with Ecos 100 per cent VOCfree natural paint, £48.63 for five litres. Available in 180 colours. bit.ly/U5HXd9 supports Repower Balcombe. “We can’t invest funds in it as a council, but many of us, personally, will be investing in the scheme,” says Parish Council chairman, engineer Alison Stevenson. Leo Murray, head of carboncutting charity 10:10’s Back Balcombe campaign, says: “The Balcombe project is nationally important because it shows what happens when ordinary people are given a choice about where they get their energy from.” With the threat of fracking hanging over much of rural England, this pragmatic response by those who oppose it is very British: sensible, positive with just a shade of humour lurking in the margins. You can register an interest at backbalcombe.org.