I am very sorry if my post could be taken as not fully supporting our farmers.
I will willingly most certainly deviate 20nm, or whatever, to help farmers who fear F & M. But this restriction had nothing to do with this. Passing through both 2nm radius zones is the A31 dual carriageway, on the Hogs Back, about 300ft above the farms, with hundreds of vehicles per hour. They were not restricted.
Both sites are below the 3500ft base of the TMA, up to which the restriction was placed. They are both just outside the step in the TMA base down to2500ft. This is an enormously congested area for light aircraft, which will generally be flying at 2000ft - 2400ft due to the nearby TMA step.
Chevron has given the real reason for the restriction, which is confirmed by the fact they were cancelled early today, as 'yesterdays news'. I just don't believe that an upper limit of 2000ft would not have met all the needs, without placing two 4NM dia cylinders of restricted airspace in front of the Heathrow - Gatwick corridor.