A new era for Aukra 

Mayor Aud Mork flanked by Asbjørg and Bjørg Jensen, who used to live where the process plant is located today.

“I did not think the gas would be coming to Aukra until I heard it on the radio,” recounts Asbjørg Jensen. “The run-up had been unbearably exciting. Not just because it meant a new boost for the economy, business and industry on the island, but also because it concerned our home.”
 
The previous summer, representatives for the municipality and the partnership in Ormen Lange had visited the house in the little woods on the outskirts of Nyhamna. Asbjørg and Bjørn had lived there since they built the house and the tiny garden exactly 30 years ago.

Now they were informed that if the license owners agreed to bring the gas to the island, the reception facility would be located on their property. The question was whether they were prepared to move.
 
“Well, it was sad,” says Asbjørg, “after such a long time, although we are getting on a bit. At some stage or another we would have had to move anyway. Perhaps this was the opportunity.

We realised at once that there was no point trying to stop the development. And nor did we wish to. Because this was an important milestone for Aukra.”
 
Mayor of Aukra, Aud Mork, explains that the flip side of the coin of receiving gas from Norway’s second largest gas field was that some families would have to leave their homes and land.

The processing plant would lay claim to the area out by the sea where a total of 18 people lived, on 11 properties. Most of them took the message to move calmly, she explains. They understood that the compensation was fair and the process would be orderly. For some it signified a new beginning, a fresh start.

Asbjørg and Bjørn Jensen found a newly-built house close to the municipal centre on the island. They feel the solution was right and have been among the most interested in the village as to what is happening on the construction site – particularly on “their” property.
 
“I don’t have a bad word to say about Hydro,” emphasizes Asbjørg. “They have been wonderful. This view is based on the accurate information, thorough handling of the case and good settlement provided.”
 
On warm summer evenings they sit on their patio. In clear weather they can make out the flare stack in the distance, not far from where they used to live. They reminisce a little, until their attention turns to what is going on out there today and to the future, which provides plenty of food for thought.
 
“A small town has sprung up out there,” says Asbjørg.