Compass taking in two points of the surrounding area (7)
I believe the answer is:
ambient
'of the surrounding area' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'compass taking in two points' is the wordplay.
'compass' becomes 'ambit' (synonyms).
'taking in' is an insertion indicator.
'two points' becomes 'en'.
'ambit' going around 'en' is 'AMBIENT'.
(Other definitions for ambient that I've seen before include "Surrounding or encompassing, say temperature" , "Circulating" , "sort of music" , "air" , "Surrounding, temperature perhaps" .)