30/01/2012 Inside Out South

Hello and welcome to Inside Out. Here's what's coming up tonight.

Nearly three years after Gurkha families won the right to live in

Britain, one army town has problems. Someone is going to end up dead

definitely. They start a fight and other people start a fight and it

goes like that. Can football bring peace to Aldershot?

Everyone's worried. It is an accident waiting to happen.

Extracting energy reserves from under the south.

But will this gas bonanza cause earthquakes and contaminate our

water? We're trying to put everything in place to make sure

that nothing like this can happen again. And conservation success for

the red kite. But can you over-pamper a bird of

prey? A great spectacle or a nightmare worthy of Hitchcock?

should fine people for feeding the birds en masse. This isn't proper

management. I'm John Cuthill and Tonight we're at the Sir Harold

Hillier Gardens just outside Romsey because of this, the Gurkha

Memorial Garden. It's been nearly three years since that historic

ruling. Joanna Lumley shouting triumphantly her war cry as Gurkhas

are given the right to live in Britain. But no one could have

predicted how many Nepalese people would choose to settle in one

particular part of Hampshire. As Nick Wallis finds out, that's been

Aldershot has always been known as the home of the British army but

now some people are beginning to call it Little Nepal and not in a

good way. Since Joanna Lumley's campaign to give Gurkhas and their

families the right to settle here, thousands of people have come to

this town and the surrounding areas. It's now thought 10% of the

population is Nepalese. Not surprisingly this big influx over a

short period has brought tension, particularly amongst some of the

young people. In the local parks especially, there have been real

problems between the two communities and one local youth

worker has been watching the situation get worse. There's often

clashes, especially around public events like firework displays.

There has to be an increased police presence. There isn't any

integration or mixing going on. It tends to be a big group of Nepalese

people in the parks. Has that led to confrontations? Yes. And they

can get violent? Definitely. Every time I'm in here I have to run. You

get all the Nepalese coming up here and they start chasing us and stuff.

I've had a few fights with them at school. I was jumped at school by

seven of them. So they've come here and they take over? They've bullied

us out of our park basically. summer while riots were going on in

other parts of the country, Manor Park in Aldershot was seen as a

potential tinderbox. The police were granted a dispersal order,

allowing them to move youngsters out of the area and things did calm

down. But it seems whenever there is a big event in Aldershot,

trouble is never far away. In every funfair there's a fight going on

somewhere. There's always going to be a fight. I don't know. How bad

does it get? Three or four police vans pull up. Like, pretty bad.

When the white kids say it's you guys starting it, you're ing the

problem, what do you think? Every time different people start. It's

not just us, not just them. Everyone starts, to be truthful.

These young men, sons of Gurkha soldiers, have come here to make a

new life with their families. They have to deal with a new language

and an alien culture and many have had a hostile reception. There's

lots of white people being racist to us. It's different colours. We

have a different colour of skin. They call me by different names and

tell you to go to your own country. It's difficult actually, dealing

with them. It's clear there's a big divide

between the two communities. Suspicions, misunderstandings and

little dialogue. They just want to stick together. They don't want to

be friends with white people. older Nepalese people, they're all

right, aren't they? Nothing wrong with them. It's just the young'uns.

It's not always them starting. It's both of us. They start it

really. When we're on our own, they like to start. When we are with a

group, we like to start. Where do you see this going if something

isn't done? Someone is going to end up dead, definitely. It's not will

it happen. It's when it's going to happen and that's a definite. If we

don't stop it now or try to stop it now, it's going to just escalate

and you're going to lose a whole generation of people with

resentments towards each other. I know there's ways around it, but no

one seems to be trying to help at the moment. This man is trying to

do something. When his wife couldn't get an appointment with

the local GP because of the numbers of new Nepali patients, it was the

final straw. He started a Facebook page highlighting the problems.

actually signed the petition for the Gurkhas to come to the UK. I

just think it was ill thought out. Too many people, too fast. I wanted

to voice my concerns, rather than doing it in the pub with friends,

on a larger scale. I started a Facebook group just to see what

would happen. Over the next 72 hours we had over 1000 members join.

Despite some racist postings on the site, Sam is adamant it isn't a

platform for bigots. He wants it to be a force for good between the two

communities. Yeah, I've got three children. At the point when I

started the group, my newest son was two weeks old. I was basically

sat there on the sofa thinking is this the Aldershot I want my family

to grow up in? I don't want them to grow up in a divided community with

hate and segregation. I just wanted something to change. Like Sam,

youth worker Richard Cooper is trying to build bridges. At the

town's youth club, locals are cooking the Nepalis a traditional

English meal, curry. But the biggest challenge will be bringing

together those factions involved in confrontation. Richard thinks he

might have the answer. The beautiful game. A football match

with both sides playing together. It's not rocket science. It's food

and football, two of the most sociable, easily organised

activities you can get. The challenge is the integration part

of it. Even in a controlled football pitch environment. I've

started to notice a slight shift in viewpoints over the last couple of

weeks though. You know what, it's about time we shook hands. You say

you'd like to sort it out. What actually needs to be done? Bonding

together. Group activities. should get us all in a group. Seven

of us and seven of them. Do basketball. That's what they do,

basketball. And play football, what we do, the English people. We love

playing football. If their community wants to get us together,

I guarantee we will be the first ones to go ahead with that and be

friends. We really do want to be friends. This is a new country for

us. It's not like back home. To make more friends, that's all we

want. It's three months since the idea of the match was first

suggested. Today is the big day, but will enough people turn up? Now

the teams are going to be mixed so it's no us and them. Let's see what

sort of bridges can be built over the next 90 minutes. Marley. Yut.

Pauppu. Mika. Danu. Rhys, Harry, Nath, Jamie. I'm excited for this

game. It's going to be good. I can't wait. I didn't think it was

going to happen. We don't really play with them. It will be good to

get involved with them and that. This is one of the main boys as

well from what happened with the fights. I can't be bothered to

fight with them. I want to get on with them. You're here for one

thing and that is to play football, OK? You're on one team, one side,

with one idea, to change Aldershot. Every one of you is here to make

that choice today. All right? the teams are picked with Nepali

and white lads playing together, the spectators are getting to know

each other, too. Nice to meet you. I'm one of the dads. I take it you

are as well. Those are mine. older generation are supporting the

youngsters, keen to see new friendships made. I always loved

British people because we are here in their country so we have to

integrate with them. You deserve to be here. You deserve to be here.

That is my perception. Those are my cousins. I tell them don't fight

with British people. Try to talk to them. Try to share ideas with them.

If there are any problems with the kids on my side of it or any of my

kids or anything like that, then just give me a ring and we need to

sort things out. Yes. The match kicks off and it quickly becomes

obvious the game is more important than any feud.

It's competitive but there are no flare-ups. Months of racial tension

begin to drain away. By doing all this and everyone getting together

and playing football, everyone is changing and that. It's getting

everyone together to make a team. We play together. Nepali and white

people and we make friendship more so there won't be any trouble in

It is hoped this match will be the first of many and that these

players will form a regular team called United Rushmore, which will

compete in the local leagues. was a nice game. I got to know more

people. It's doing really well. It's going good. Firm handshakes,

eye to eye contact, a few smiles? Yes. I think a couple are all right

people when you get to know them and speak to them. If all goes well,

these lads will bring football success to the town and a positive

legacy for future generations. Fantastic. Everyone here was for

the same thing altogether. It was quite a sight. Do you think you

have bright prospects? I'm under no disillusion. It's not fixed. But we

got 25 or 30 guys that are starting a friendship. This is the future,

the future of Aldershot. You're all so proud of your town and your

choice is today. Change comes through choice. We are all here

today out of choice because you want to make a difference to the

town you're going to grow up in. This is where all the racial

Next, is fracking the answer to the South's looming energy crisis? It's

controversial. It's been blamed for causing tremors and it could be

heading our way. Scott Ellis investigates.

In America, fracking for gas is a $1 trillion industry. It's highly

profitable and highly controversial. And before long, fracking could

come to areas across the South. In West Sussex, this site in the

village of Balcombe is being considered for test drilling by

Cuadrilla, the company linked to earth tremors in Lancashire. Over

in Somerset, UK Methane has already sunk a test drill. If the site is

suitable, fracking could be used to extract the gas. If I said fracking

to you, do you know what it means? No, not fracking. I've heard it

somewhere. It sounds rude. suspect that it means something

quite unusual that you're perhaps going to tell me. Hydraulic

fracturing involves drilling thousands of feet to gas that's

trapped in deep shale rocks. Then small explosions open up cracks,

followed by the frack itself, a mixture of water, sand and

chemicals, pumped down at high pressures, helping to free up the

gas. So you need water, sand and a few chemicals. Force them into the

ground, and the gas comes up to the Fracked gas is now all the rage in

America. It's revolutionised their energy sector. 15 years ago the USA

was building liquefied natural gas terminals all round its coast. They

felt they were running short of their own gas supplies. These were

import terminals for importing the natural gas from Qatar. They have

been turned into export terminals, so America is exporting gas to

other countries, which is a phenomenal turnaround. But a lack

of regulation in America has caused a backlash. There are fears that

fracked gas has escaped into underground water supplies. The

industry denies that fracking is the only possible cause. But this

year, controversy came here to the UK, when Cuadrilla's high-pressure

fracking operations near Blackpool were followed by two earthquakes.

On the day the earthquake report was released, anti-fracking

protesters shook things up, taking this footage as they occupied

Cuadrilla's site. Cuadrilla has admitted it was highly probable

that their fracking triggered the earthquakes. They've stopped the

process while they improve underground monitoring. It is not

in our interest to have these kind of seismic events. It's time-

consuming to us. We're trying to put everything in place to make

sure that nothing like this can happen again. Fears about water

supplies being poisoned and triggering earthquakes. It's not

been a great first year for fracking in the UK. Is everybody

just exaggerating? What do the experts think about this earth-

shattering new way of releasing shale gas? Bristol has its own

earthquake study centre where they can recreate seismic activity.

Here's the brutal earthquake which struck Christchurch in New Zealand

in February, killing 181 people. And they've also monitored the two

earthquakes in Lancashire, linked to the Cuadrilla fracking process.

What we are seeing here is a simulation of the Blackpool

earthquake as a result of the fracking event. You can see it is

over. It lasted for about three seconds, very low altitude shake.

The earth moves about a centimetre, not enough to cause any structural

damage or injury. From an earthquake point of view, the vast

amount of evidence that's out there from this fracking process which

has been done around the world, is that the earthquakes that are

generated by it are very small and insignificant from a structural

engineering point of view. everyone is convinced. Richard set

up an anti-fracking group in the Mendips. It is an area where

fracking could be used to unlock gas reserves. But it's not

earthquakes that bother him. issue that I've got is the

chemicals that they pumped underground to create this

fracturing effect. What it does is they pump a mix of chemicals at

very high pressure and they pumped into the loose rock, the shale. The

gas, so to speak, fizzes out of the shale. The problem is these

chemicals are really noxious. Hundreds of thousands of people get

their water from the Mendips. If you look over there you can just

about see Cheddar Reservoir, fed by the river among other things. The

Cheddar Yeo River actually goes underground and pops out again.

What if we get chemicals leaking into there? It's too big a risk for

what is a very small gain. question you might have is what

else goes in. The industry makes no secret that chemicals are added to

the water used for fracking. In the UK, every additive has to be

It's in the city of Bath where fracking is feared most. The hot

spring waters here sustain a leisure and tourism industry which

employs thousands. It's water which falls first as rain on the Mendips.

So this is the water from the bowels of the earth? This is our

Yes, it is an acquired taste. an unusual case. The council leader

and some MPs are worried. If fracking comes to the Mendips,

might the dash for gas disrupt Bath's vital springs? In a worst-

case scenario you could have water going elsewhere. To be absolutely

truthful, we don't know the journey that the water takes to get here,

other than it takes several thousand years after falling on the

Mendips to arrive at our springs here. What we would like to see is

no fracking in any area that affects our water supply until

someone has proven to us that there is absolutely no risk. Once you

change the water flows and it stops coming, then that is an

irreversible decision. government doesn't think a

moratorium is necessary or that fracking poses a direct threat to

water aquifers. But politicians in Bath want stronger guarantees that

the city's water supply will be protected from drilling miles away

on the Mendips. So how soon before fracking comes here to the Mendips?

UK Methane have told us it could be years away. They are more

interested in fracking first in South Wales and then Kent. Then

again, this is the energy business, and things can change quickly. The

government wants to win over the public so it can expand fracking

operations in the UK. Gas burns more cleanly than coal, so it could

help to reduce emissions. It's all a question of balancing the

Finally tonight, will they be a victim of their own success? It's

taken nearly two decades to re- establish one of our most beautiful

birds of prey, the red kite. But not everyone is happy they're back

in such numbers. The Chilterns in Oxfordshire, the heart of red kite

country. Here was the first place they were reintroduced after being

wiped out by man. It's been a huge success. 20 years ago, you'd be

hard pushed to see any. Now there are nearly 700 breeding pairs.

Brassy, bold and beautiful, red kites riding thermals under blue

skies. For some people that's just not enough. Red kites favour

carrion. They're primarily scavengers. As for that old saying

there's no such thing as a free lunch? This is Friday lunchtime for

the kites, is it? That's right. How long have you been doing this?

Eight or 10 years, I suppose. did you start? When they let them

go first, there weren't many. I suppose it was a bit of a novelty.

You feed them and you start these things and then you carry on, sort

of thing. How many can we expect to get with this lot put on the floor?

Hopefully there will be 20 or more. Do you see them as something to

enjoy? Are the numbers getting too much? I like them but a lot of

people don't, do they? Really? What have we got there? Chicken? Pork?

Yes and a bit of beef. Hopefully they will come now. If you feed

them every day, they will sit here and wait for you to come with more

food. They won't even try to get anything on their own. If you feed

them now and again they try to get their own. Is that something you

decided to do as the numbers grew? Well, there's too many here at the

minute, really. They want splitting up a bit. Do you think that's

because people have been feeding them too much? Well, they do.

Everybody finds something for them. A bit of chicken waste or something.

So you never see a hungry red kite? Not really. Not round here. They

just keep coming. And just a mile or so down the road, the food just

keeps on coming. Chips, by the look of it. While the customers inside

Chris's cafe are being well fed, the red kites are licking their

beaks ready for today's tasty treat. It's only the scraps that comes off

the things. Chips, bread and butter, fried slice. Bacon, sausage. Black

pudding. Anything else. Not eggs and beans and that because that

makes it too yucky. They're supposed to be scavengers so it's

really meat. Anything that's meat is what they really want. We leave

the ribs out and the birds eat the ribs and the people eat the meat.

Now that's seriously fast food. But not everyone is happy. I think it's

wrong. I don't think people should be doing it like this. I think they

should be left alone to get on with it like the rest of life. If they

are managed properly, they will be fine, but this is not proper

management. You think perhaps a deterrent would help? Possibly. To

the extent that we should fine people for feeding the birds en

masse. Really, why? Well, we've got to try and do things right. The

countryside has to work along with everyone. I don't feel it's the

right way to manage the birds properly. You don't look in the air

and see loads of peregrine falcons or hawks or kestrals coming in and

feeding and foraging on bacon sandwiches. But you do with red

Let's not forget why red kites were brought back. Just take a look at

Instantly you can tell it's a red kite. Yes, very distinctive shape.

Those very narrow, long, outspread wings. Wingtips like fingers. The

tail forked and constantly moving. And the colour is very distinctive

as well. I think they're just magical. The fact that they've been

reintroduced from a point that they were extinct in England and now we

can see them on a daily basis, enjoying the thermals, flying

around this fantastic countryside. People have been putting food out

for red kites for years, thinking they are doing them a favour. But

what it might be doing is actually causing them to cluster in areas

where perhaps they are not as welcome as they might be. Maybe

they are breeding at a higher level in areas where they are being fed

than the area would naturally be able to sustain. So in the long

term, it may actually be doing more harm than good? That's possible. I

think a bit of feeding early on in the reintroduction probably helped

them to get to a sustainable level. But really now I think it is time

to back off and let them survive Right. No rest for the wicked. If I

want a really close up view, there is work to be done. The things I do

for Inside Out. Join Inside Out, they said. Go and see the world,

they said. What am I doing? I'm picking up old chicken from a lay-

Are you always going to feed them? Probably. We don't feed them so

much in the summer because there's more food about. But with hard

winters, it sees them through. You could say there are too many now,

can't you? Do you think they need it? Do you think they need the

chicken? When the weather is bad, I think they do. Yes.

And it doesn't take long for the Now there's no denying that that is

a spectacular sight. I've never seen so many birds of prey at one

time. There must be at least 50 up there. The question is, is that

doing them any good in the long The last thing you want is for this

to turn into a bad news story and kites being seen as a bit of a pest.

There is a danger that we are heading that way. There is.

Obviously people start reading sensationalist news stories about

children being injured by kites or kites coming down into people's

gardens. We don't want the kites to be viewed in that way. They are

wild animals, but because they have been accustomed to being fed, they

are behaving in a much more bold way than perhaps we would like them

to. All we need to do is stop feeding them and then they will go

and find their food elsewhere. It's a very easy problem to solve.

can see when they are perched in the trees. This is the man who

helped reintroduce the red kites 20 years ago. What does he think?

Would you ever have thought they would prove to be controversial?

They are causing a bit of a rumpus. I think they are causing a rumpus

because any time anyone sees masses of anything they think there are

too many. You only have to go a short way up the M40 and you will

hardly see them. They are very concentrated in this area, which is

probably because people feed them round here. That is possibly bad,

possibly good. I have no feelings about it really. That is why there

are lots around here. You can't sit on the fence. Do you think people

should feed them? They are wonderful to watch and I think it

is probably reasonably all right to feed them. If it is a really cold

winter it will be super because all of their prey is frozen solid so

they cannot eat it. All the worms that they eat go deep down. In a

really cold winter it would be ideal to feed them but the rest of

the year doesn't really matter. Years ago we did not have any red

kites, buzzards or ravens. Now we have buzzards, red kites and ravens.

That is mainly because the red kites have come back and the

poisoning has stopped. People don't persecute the birds any more. I

think it's rather nice having them all back here again. It's where

they should be. They were here 120 years ago and it's nice to have

them back. You personally, how do you feel? Pretty good about it,

And Reading University is currently running a survey on the feeding of

red kites. For more information, drop me an e-mail.

Look at that. Spring is on the way. See you next time.

Next week, the online fraudsters taking us for a ride. If I wanted

to break into your house, I would know when you were away, how long

you were gone for. Spend any time online these days and chances are