Category: Board

Surrey MPs, led by Jonathan Lord MP, are urging Natural England to begin the long-awaited review of the proposed extension to the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Natural England agreed in 2014 to conduct a boundary review and assured the AONB Board that the Surrey Hills review would be started as soon as a review of Suffolk Coast and Heaths had been completed. It has now been completed, but Natural England has not yet confirmed when it will start the Surrey Hills review. And while large areas around the boundary of Surrey Hills AONB have been protected as ‘Areas of Great Landscape Value’ (AGLV) – a local designation which has given a helpful ‘buffer zone’ around the AONB – if Natural England pulls out of the boundary review, all of the AGLVs are in danger of being encroached upon by inappropriate intensification of use or, ultimately, even by development.

The MPs have also written today to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to urge the Secretary of State to give timely approval to the review, which Natural England agreed to over five years ago.

Jonathan Lord, MP for Woking, said: “The Surrey Hills offer some of England’s most beautiful and accessible countryside. Yet the area with full AONB protection, designated in 1958, is actually small and vulnerable. The Surrey Hills AONB and the important surrounding areas desperately need further protections in order to safeguard them for future generations. We look forward to Natural England conducting a boundary review and, hopefully, expanding the AONB boundaries in a sensible and sustainable way.”

Angela Richardson, MP for Guildford, commented: “All six councils involved support this review to extend and protect this beautiful area. Local people and communities have also been pinning their hopes on it for some years, and there will be great disappointment if the review does not start soon.”

Sir Paul Beresford, MP for Mole Valley, added: “Since 1958, it has been recognised that nature needs wide areas and linked corridors; it can’t flourish in mile-wide and fragmented landscapes. Indeed, the recent planning white paper reinforces the importance of coherent AONBs, which will need to have robust and sensible boundaries. The current Surrey Hills boundary is fragile and fragmented, and this review would surely increase its sustainability. I urge Natural England to get on with it.”

Heather Kerswell, Chair of the Surrey Hills AONB Board comments: “The Surrey Hills AONB Board is delighted that Jonathan Lord MP and Claire Coutinho MP and fellow Surrey MPs are writing to Defra in support of extending the Surrey Hills AONB boundary. The Surrey Hills were designated in 1958 but the boundary drawn was incredibly tight and difficult to understand, excluding many beautiful
areas. We want to see the boundaries redrawn to include these beautiful areas and to give them the
protection they deserve. This is very timely as it follows the Prime Minister’s ‘Pledge for Nature’
commitment to increase protected countryside by 400,000 hectares from the present 26% to 30% by
2030 to support the recovery of nature. The extension of the Surrey Hills AONB boundary is an
excellent opportunity to help meet this target”.

The Surrey Hills AONB Board are delighted to hear the news today 7 July that fellow AONB, Suffolk Coast & Heaths has had approval from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to extend their current boundary. This extension is great news for all protected landscapes and shines a light on the Surrey Hills which is next in line for a boundary extension.

Howard Davies, Chief Executive of the National Association of AONBs comments;

“It is wonderful to see the Secretary of State announce this extension to the AONB, especially in the 50th anniversary year of its original designation. We look forward to what this now means for other landscapes like the Surrey Hills.”

The Surrey Hills AONB was only the second landscape to be designated in England in 1958, and the boundary has not been reviewed since its original designation. In 2011 Natural England’s Board commissioned a study to review the evidence for a boundary review. Significant parts of the adjacent countryside outside the Surrey Hills AONB had been designated at a local county level as Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLV), it was felt by the Surrey Hills Board that the AGLV area was worthy of review and that the areas have sufficient natural beauty to qualify for inclusion in the AONB. A modification to the AONB boundary would extend it by almost 82.5 km2 – an additional 11%. The extension would encompass areas of Downs, Wealden Greensand and Low Weald within and around the locally designated AGLV.

Click here to view map showing additional protection areas to be included in AONB Boundary

In November 2013, Natural England agreed to proceed with a boundary review in the Surrey Hills once the Suffolk Coast and Heaths review had completed.

Claire Coutinho, MP for East Surrey (pictured) comments;
“The Surrey Hills are hugely important to the wellbeing of millions of people. Yet the protected area, decided in 1958, is unbelievably small and vulnerable.

We need all of this national landscape to be properly protected to safeguard the future of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We look forward to Natural England expanding the boundaries to sensible and practical limits, hopefully creating linkups with other nearby protected areas.”

Andy Smith, Surrey Director, CPRE The Countryside Charity comments;

“CPRE has long supported the extension of the Surrey Hills AONB boundary to incorporate within the AONB many of the adjacent Areas of Great Landscape Value – and beyond – so we are delighted to hear that the long-awaited AONB boundary review can now go ahead. The certainty of protection that the Surrey Hills AONB currently provides should be extended to the immediately adjacent countryside. Recent events have demonstrated all too clearly that we need to provide proper care and protection for more of Surrey’s countryside and green spaces, to preserve our rural heritage, to promote tranquillity and access to nature, and for the sake of people’s health and well-being.”

Heather Kerswell, Chair of the Surrey Hills AONB Board comments;

“This very positive news from our colleagues at the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB is a step forward in a long process. The Surrey Hills were designated as worthy of national protection in 1958 but the boundary drawn was incredibly tight, difficult to understand or to manage. Many beautiful areas were inexplicably excluded. This makes the Surrey Hills very vulnerable, especially in east Surrey, which is particularly important as it is on daily international display from the M25. We want to see the boundaries redrawn to include these beautiful areas and give them the protection they deserve. We particularly want to see the hills in Tandridge included up to the boundary with Croydon, where we could link to the new London National Nature Reserve of South London Downs. Natural England agreed ten years ago to carry out this review and promised that Surrey Hills would follow on from Suffolk heaths so we look forward to an early start to the review, which we will support in every possible way.”

When Natural England decides to extend the Surrey Hills AONB boundary, a Variation Order will be submitted to the Secretary of State for a final decision, following a period of consultation, and detailed boundary setting.

For further information on the Surrey Hills Boundary Review click here.

Click here to read more about the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Boundary Review

The Coronavirus pandemic is changing the way our country looks and feels. Our communities and neighbourhoods look different now, resurgent community spirit offers hope for a different way forward. Symbols of shared support for our NHS have presented in rainbows in windows, more people are accessing their local green spaces and ideas are bubbling across the country to use this crisis as an opportunity to make life better.

That’s why the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has come together with National Parks, other AONBs , the London National Park City, Culture Declares Emergency and Ordnance Survey to launch the Prize to Transform the Future.

The Prize is a bold and exciting opportunity for optimists to help visualise a hopeful and possible future for the London City Region by sharing ideas to make our lives and landscapes greener, healthier, more beautiful and wilder.

What might the London City Region look like 20 years from now? Now imagine what it could and should look like. What if it was radically greener, healthier, wilder and more beautiful? What would it look like? What would it be like?

The Prize to Transform the Future is a call to artists, architects, cartographers, imagineers, optimists, realists, landscape architects, master planners, conservationists, graphic designers, farmers, film-makers, ecologists, illustrators, geographers, students, politicians, professionals, writers, modellers, pensioners, weavers, idealists and bankers. Anyone in fact.

Dan Raven-Ellison, founder of the London National Park City, said “I hope lots of people will be inspired to rise to this challenge. This may not be a financial prize, but the potential reward is something much greater, deeper and longer lasting than that. We are currently facing a number of urgent wake up calls. Our health, our ecology and our climate are all entwined in states of emergency that threaten our lives and livelihoods. We need bold and positive visions that we can get behind to restore our futures and make life better for ourselves and future generations.”

Rob Fairbanks, the Surrey Hills Director states: “We live in one of the most beautiful and diverse regions in the world with its wonderful landscapes of farmland, woodland, common, heath and downland. We are part of this landscape and dependent on it for our food, water, clean air and well-being. In a time of so much change and anxiety, we hope The Prize can be a powerful opportunity to visualise a healthier future for ourselves in greater harmony with our natural environment.”

Judges include Surrey Hills based artists Ackroyd & Harvey with many more to be announced from across different parts of the region and with different interests.

Heather Ackroyd said “The arts have a tradition of sparking cultural change and ‘speaking differently’: disrupting the status quo and creating emergent space for new ideas to engage people at an imaginative level. Here, the vision to transform the future is all about imaginatively creating those wilder and greener spaces and putting ecology and nature right at the centre of the bigger cultural landscape.”
Discover more about the Prize to Transform the Future by visiting www.prizetotransformthefuture.org and join the conversation.

#PrizeToTransformTheFuture

Buglife with funding from Defra, has launched an ambitious plan to help our bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects. Surrey B-Lines aims to connect the county’s best remaining wildlife sites through targeted wildflower habitat creation, linking the hills to the coast and towns to the countryside.

Buglife has worked with the local authorities and other partners to map out a network of potential wildflower habitat – called B-Lines, and are now inviting farmers, landowners and the public to get involved in creating new pollinator habitat, and practically restoring wildflower-rich grasslands.

Bees and other pollinators are disappearing from our countryside because of a lack of wildflower-rich habitats. Three million hectares, 97%, of the UK’s wildflower-rich grasslands have been lost since the 1930s. Creating pollinator habitat along B-Lines will help wildlife move across our countryside, saving threatened species and making sure that there are plenty of pollinators out there to help us grow crops and pollinate wildflowers.

Surrey is just one of the counties recently mapped leading to the completion of the England B-lines network, enabling Buglife’s vision of a river of wildflowers across the UK to be realised. The next step will be getting wildflower restoration and creation happening across the country.

Catherine Jones from Buglife said “B-Lines provide an exciting opportunity for everyone to support our struggling insect pollinators. By working together to create a network of wildflower-rich habitats, we can support healthy populations of bees and other pollinators enabling them respond to threats such as climate change.”

Rob Fairbanks, Director at Surrey Hills AONB said: “We are delighted to be working with Buglife on this brilliant initiative. There has been a drastic decline in nature over recent decades in the countryside. The B-Lines project will help us to target advice to farmers and landowners to restore our insect and pollinator populations. This is the key to securing nature recovery across the Surrey Hills”.

Andrew Jamieson, project development manager at Surrey Wildlife Trust, said: ‘Buglife’s B-lines mapping is a stroke of genius, providing a map for habitat creation that will become the basis of living green arteries for bees, bugs and butterflies not only in Surrey, but also nationwide.

With people getting closer to nature under lockdown and realising its value to us all, B-lines for Surrey is being launched at the perfect time. We hope it will inspire people across the county to play their own part in creating flapping, buzzing and fluttering networks of insects to bring about abundance and recovery of nature on our doorstep.’

For further information on the project click here.

An eye-catching new swift nesting tower has been erected in the Surrey Hills on Shalford Common to protect one of Britain’s most remarkable and endangered bird species who frequently choose to nest there.

This stunning and very special piece of public art is the result of a collaboration project between Guildford Borough Council, Shalford Parish Council, The Surrey Hills Trust Fund, The Friends of Shalford and the Guildford Environmental Forum. It has been partly funded by a Section 106 contribution, a grant which is made by local developers to help provide amenities for the local community.

Guildford Borough Councillor for the Environment, Cllr James Steel says: “Will has created a fantastic piece of public art and I am delighted that we are able to help this fascinating species by protecting long-established parts of their habitat. The tower is an impressive feat of engineering and I am sure will also become a local landmark, as well as being of significant regional importance to our wildlife. I look forward to seeing the tower become a thriving hub for an increasing local swift population.”

The 10-metre-tall tower, constructed in steel and local timber, was designed by award-winning artist Will Nash and features 45 individually-numbered nest boxes, which can accommodate 90 swifts and their chicks, to replace lost nesting sites in an area where swifts have nested for decades. A solar-powered audio system has been installed to play pre-recorded swift calls to attract birds to the tower.

Cllr Gordon Jackson, Chairman of Surrey Hills Trust Fund, says: “Providing habitat for our wonderful wildlife to thrive across the Surrey Hills is at the heart of our Trust Fund’s mission. Will is an inspirational artist. I am sure the tower will provide a great, much-needed nesting place for swifts and be much-loved by our communities and visitors.”

Modelled on one of the great works of 20th century sculpture, the Endless Column by Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, the tower is sustainably clad with UK-grown cedar shingles and was created in consultation with Edward Mayer, founder of the Swift Conservation Trust.

Sussex-based conceptual artist Will Nash has frequently worked with community groups and in specific locations to create bespoke sculptures that are often characterised by geometric explorations. He is best-known for his 4.8-metre-tall Space Hopper Pyramid installation, featuring 298 space hoppers and created in aid of testicular cancer; a giant game of table tennis played with a pendulum on the Kent coast; a stainless steel portrait of 50 community workers in Eastbourne; and Elevation, his 12-metre-by-5-metre light-reflecting work made of laser-cut brushed steel panels.
Nash has received a number of awards, including the Sir Leslie Joseph Young Artist of the Year award in 2001, and was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize 2009. Nash also led a bird box-making workshop with pupils of Shalford Infant School, as part of the project.

He says: “I was attracted to the project by the challenge of making an artwork that was also a viable habitat for a particular bird. Swifts ideally need a drop of at least six metres from their nest, so the tower had to be tall. The shape of the tower was drawn from several sources, including the need to have multiple eaves and to make something aerodynamic so that it doesn’t catch the wind. This resulted in a shape drawn from nature like a seed head, pine cone or a cocoon.

“Cllr Alan Midgley, Chairman of Shalford Parish Council, says: “We are delighted to have been part of this project and to see it come to fruition, providing a haven for the swifts, who are such an important part of the character of the village. We are grateful to all the parties involved for the hard work in completing the tower during these very constrained times.”

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) figures suggest that the UK lost 53% of its swift population between 1995 and 2016, largely due to the loss of nesting sites through the demolition of old buildings, declines in insect numbers caused by pesticides, and climate change. There are currently estimated to be 87,000 pairs of swifts in the UK, with up to 15 pairs of swifts returning to Shalford each summer.
The swift, which is on the Amber List of Birds of Conservation Concern, nests in England each year from the end of April until the beginning of August as part of an annual 14,000-mile migration from equatorial and southern regions of Africa. This makes it one of the longest migration journeys of any bird.

It is the world’s fastest bird in level flight, reaching speeds of over 69 miles per hour. They fly continuously day and night, and only land to breed every year. They eat, drink, mate and even sleep on the wing by resting each half of their brain in turn. Swifts can fly almost 500 miles in one day, and 1.25 million miles in their lifetime. After leaving their nest for the first time, they fly non-stop for three years but always return to their birthplace to mate.

Swifts are distinguished by their dark, sooty colour, pale throat, long, narrow wings, very short legs, slightly forked tail and screaming call. The average lifespan of a swift is six years, but the oldest recorded swift was at least 21 years-old. When feeding chicks, an adult swift can collect 100,000 insects a day for their young.

The Surrey Hills AONB is currently receiving a higher than usual amount of visitors to the area.

We want to re-iterate our message that this is not the time to travel to visit the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Many public facilities and car parks remain closed or require booking in advance. We encourage you to access the countryside greenspaces closer to home and observe social distancing measures to help restrict the spread of the virus and ensure the countryside is a safe place for all.

Any visitors to the Surrey Hills are being urged to check the situation with car parks and toilets before travelling and, if deciding to travel, be considerate to the local communities by parking sensibly, ensuring litter and other waste is taken home, and maintaining social distancing.

We’ve set out some key guidance points for accessing the Surrey Hills over the coming weeks;

• Keeping yourself and others safe is paramount and we encourage you to adhere to guidance set out by DEFRA in their Countryside Code.

• We are aware that many visitors who love to walk and cycle will have greatly missed the Surrey Hills landscape, the views and the well-known beauty spots. We encourage you to use countryside sites close to your home rather than travelling. Over the coming weeks and months we will see carparks and facilities gradually re-open and we urge you to check before you travel that car parks are open and would advise you away from the more well-known sites which may become congested and therefore difficult to socially distance.

• Please be aware that our local farms are under great seasonal pressures during this time and we would encourage you to respect their needs by keeping dogs on leads and follow all designated foot paths and bridleways to keep yourselves and farm animals safe.

• During the lockdown period, nature has had an opportunity to thrive and we ask you to look after nature by being extra cautious. Please stick to footpaths and bridleways so as not to disturb ground nesting birds and other wildlife.

• We encourage you to continue supporting local during this time of transition and want to highlight all the wonderful products and services available on our doorstep in the Surrey Hills. Take a look at our list of businesses offering home deliveries, online support and services, gifts and inspiration.

Heather Kerswell, Chair of the Surrey Hills AONB Board comments;
“As we move out of the lock-down period over the coming months we look forward to welcoming visitors back to the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We know you will be keen to return to the Surrey Hills but just for now please stay local! This will ensure we all respect Government safety measures, local communities and wildlife. As freedom returns and we embrace a new normal, we will be keen for everyone to come and enjoy the benefits of natural beauty while supporting the local business community who very much need our custom at this time thank you. Meanwhile look on our website for Surrey Hills Enterprises businesses offering great local produce and services”.

This very slight lifting of lockdown measures will still see many businesses remain closed, particularly those catering for the visitor e.g. Attractions, hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs, public toilets etc. The worry for many rural communities is people descending on beauty spots and picturesque Surrey villages making social distancing difficult and therefore increasing the risk of spreading the disease.

Chris Howard, Chairman of the Tourist Board – Visit Surrey adds;
“Whilst we are all anxious to get back out into the countryside, it is worth bearing in mind that facilities are still very limited due to the coronavirus restrictions. This means a lack of open toilets, and places to get food. So plan your outings carefully and get to know some of the amazing places right on your doorstep. Remember, the lockdown rules have only been tweaked slightly.”

The National Trust are undertaking a phased re-opening programme with many of their houses, gardens and parklands remaining closed. They have started to re-open countryside carparks across England. In order to help with social distancing measures they have introduced a booking system at some of their larger carparks. Click here to find out which carparks need to be booked in advance.

Concern is growing on the increased use of sky lanterns and the damage they are doing to our local countryside, wildlife and livestock. The National Fire Chiefs Council has once again reiterated its warning urging people not to light sky lanterns to show solidarity for NHS workers – and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs has backed its call.

Sky lanterns are essentially a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a candle is suspended, sky lanterns, or Chinese lanterns as they’re also known, can float for miles before they fall to the ground, causing a serious danger to countryside and animals and a fire hazard.

NFCC Chair Roy Wilsher said: “I fully understand people wanting to show their support to the NHS. However, please find a different way to do this.

Roy continues; “A fire caused by a sky lantern causes a fire is likely to result in a complex and large-scale incident. This is time which could be spent supporting vulnerable people in the community and carrying out other activities, to support the response to COVID-19.”

Backing the call, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “We all want to do our bit to show our appreciation for the NHS and frontline workers, but please stay safe and consider one of the many other ways of showing support.

“Sky lanterns pose a danger to our precious environment and wildlife and can place a greater strain on our frontline services and key workers at this challenging time.”

Lanterns are a fire hazard; pose a risk to livestock, agriculture, thatched properties and hazardous material sites. Almost 90 local authorities across the UK have banned the use of lanterns.

Click here to read more about the damage sky lanterns cause and how you can support banning them; https://www.countrysideonline.co.uk/care-for-the-countryside/sky-lanterns/

In these very challenging times that we face we want to remind you that the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is still here.

Covering over a quarter of the county of Surrey the hills stretch across the North Downs from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east, also including the Greensand Hills which rise in Haslemere and stretch east to Leith Hill, the highest point in South East England.

With an extensive network of footpaths, byways and bridleways, there’s plenty of trails for you to walk and exercise safely. For suggestions on where to visit in the Surrey Hills please click here

The Surrey Hills AONB Management Plan is an important step in the conservation of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and was officially launched on 4 December at the AONB Board meeting.

The Plan has been adopted as a priority by Guildford Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Tandridge District Council, Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council all of which have a part of the AONB within their area. The Plan sets out the 25 year vision and policy framework for the Surrey Hills, and a 5 year strategic delivery plan. All public bodies have a statutory duty of regard to the Plan.

The purpose of the AONB designation is to conserve the natural beauty of the landscape. The vision for the Surrey Hills recognises that the landscape will change but it needs to ensure that it changes in a way that conserves and enhances its special qualities. In doing so, it also needs to maintain the social and economic viability of the Surrey Hills in a sustainable manner. The following long term vision statement sets the context and guides the Management Plan policies:

“The Surrey Hills AONB is recognized as a national asset in which its natural and cultural resources are managed in an attractive landscape mosaic of farmland, woodland, heaths, downs and commons. It provides opportunities for business enterprise and for all to enjoy and appreciate its natural beauty for their health and well-being”.

Management Plan policies not only cover landscape but also, agriculture, biodiversity, health and well being, planning, the local economy and more.

 

Click here to download a copy of the Management Plan. If you would like a hard copy of the document please email; surreyhills@surreycc.gov.uk.

A new guidance document was launched at a Surrey Hills Community Forum last week promoting key principles and best practice that should be considered in country lane maintenance and improvement programmes, signage and in the design of building developments within the Surrey Hills.

The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is well known for its network of winding, narrow, secluded lanes, often with high banks and hedgerows, connecting villages and hamlets. These lanes are often rich in history reflecting centuries of human use and still retain much of their traditional charm. In a climate where there is increased pressure on the rural road network and with Surrey having a higher level of car ownership than any other county the new design guide offers a series of principals to follow in order to protect and help to encourage a safer and more considerate approach to driving in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. One focus of the guide is to encourage through traffic and HGVs to keep to principal roads to help protect the country lanes which are not designed to cope with large volumes of traffic and HGVs.

Colin Davis, author of Streetscapes and national expert, comments; “The design guidelines for the Surrey Hills is an excellent document in setting out principles that both enhance road safety and the beauty of the Surrey Hills. The document features some wonderful projects that Surrey County Council has undertaken with its local communities. This best practice should be encouraged throughout the Surrey Hills and other National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty”.

Another important area that the guide focuses on is signage. Not only best practice for installing village and directional signage to promote and reinforce the rural character of the Surrey Hills area but also providing advice where unnecessary and unsightly signage could be removed, also known as ‘de-cluttering’.

Liz Cutter, Vice Chairman of the Surrey Association of Local Councils and Surrey Hills Board Member comments; ”‘De-cluttering’ is the process of removing unnecessary roadside and village signage clutter to help reinforce the rural character of the Surrey Hills. Research shows us that reducing unnecessary signing actually benefits road users who find it hard to distinguish those signs which provide crucial information from those which do not. Less signs actually help to discourage through traffic and HGV movements from our country lanes.”Being so close to London and other urban areas means there are significant development pressures on the Surrey Hills landscape.

Development needs to take place in response to the needs of society but it is necessary to ensure that the very features that make the Surrey Hills special and worthy of its AONB designation are protected. The guide highlights a series of principles that should be adopted for all forms of development within the Surrey Hills AONB, whether inside or outside settlements, or for large and small developments.

Trevor Leggo, Chief Executive of the Surrey Association of Local Councils comments;
“Maintaining the quality of our countryside in the face of so many planning and development pressures is a priority for our rural communities. I commend this excellent guidance to our parish councils which I am sure they will welcome and use locally.”

The Surrey Hills Environmental Design Guide is aimed at local communities and Borough and District Councils as well as transport planners, contractors and developers.

To download a copy of the document click here

To order a free copy please email; pennie.king@surreycc.gov.uk