ISSN 2515-5105

Magazine of the Campaign to Protect Rural | Summer 2021 BACK TO NATURE

Follow us on Twitter @CPRESurrey Visit our website www.cpresurrey.org.uk Email: [email protected] Go-ahead for Surrey Hills AONB review Protecting ’s countryside for the future Natural England, the government agency responsible one of England’s most beautiful landscapes, as we By Alivia Kratke View of Pewley Down Fields (credit Alistair Williams) for the natural environment, announced on 24 June that build back greener from the pandemic.” There have been four generations of Guildfordians since the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Pewley Hill was spared from development and gifted to the (AONB) will be considered for boundary expansion. community a hundred years ago. Yet, this year, residents of Welcoming the announcement, Heather Kerswell, Chair This is an important announcement and follows the town were called upon, once again, to rally round and of the Surrey Hills AONB Board commented: “We are years of campaigning by CPRE Surrey to secure the protect this special area for the generations to follow. extension of the AONB to take in more of Surrey’s most delighted that work is starting on a proposed extension Pewley Down Fields, farmland adjacent to the Pewley Hill beautiful countryside, allowing it to benefi t from greater to this nationally important landscape. I fi nd it diffi cult to nature reserve, and in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding protection and to be safeguarded for future generations. understand why the existing boundary was drawn so incredibly tightly and excluded many beautiful natural Natural Beauty, contains diverse and abundant fl ora and The Surrey Hills AONB stretches across a quarter of landscapes. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fauna, and is the chalk grassland home to nesting skylarks the county of Surrey and includes the chalk slopes of to assess how the boundaries should be redrawn to and an impressive species diversity of butterfl ies and moths. the from Farnham in the west to Oxted benefi t nature and people and to give these areas the In 1921, Pewley Down’s chalk grassland, with glorious views in the east, and extends south to the deeply wooded protection they deserve. We will be working closely with across the Surrey countryside, was gifted to the Borough Greensand Hills which rise in Haslemere. Being in such Natural England and local partners.” and “preserved for time immemorial as a playground for the close proximity to London, an enlargement of the Surrey This is a vindication of CPRE’s fi rm belief in expanding people of Guildford.” Such public concern over the sweeping urbanisation of the countryside was refl ected Hills AONB would give greater access to the natural the AONB. Kristina Kenworthy, Chair of CPRE Surrey, in the foundation of CPRE itself in 1926. The north side of the Down remained in use as private farmland. Yet environment. This would help preserve its rural heritage, explains how the announcement came about and this 37 acres of precious, species-rich grassland came up for sale at auction in May 2021. This raised the promote tranquillity and give more access to nature for what happens next: “Behind the scenes Natural possibility of a developer land-banking these fi elds for future building – even though it is protected by Green the benefi t of people’s health and wellbeing. England have been working away with the Surrey Hills Belt policy and within the AONB – an illustration of the public’s current distrust of the planning system. Announcing the decision to proceed with the boundary team to facilitate engagement with stakeholders in A consortium of local residents – many of them CPRE Surrey supporters – teamed up with Surrey Wildlife review, Allison Potts, Area Manager for Natural England, what will be a collaborative exercise. CPRE Surrey will Trust and rose to the challenge of securing these fi elds for the community. Such was the fear of this area said: “The Surrey Hills is an iconic and beautiful landscape be able to constructively engage once the landscape once again being threatened by unwanted development that the Save Pewley Downs Field campaign encompassing rare habitats from chalk grassland to consultants have been appointed, which won’t be managed to raise over a million pounds in pledges within two months, and was therefore able to purchase extensive ancient woodland and is enjoyed by millions before September as DEFRA’s procurement process the fi eld for posterity, ensuring that it will never be built on. of residents and visitors from all across the region. We takes it time. CPRE volunteers in the fi ve districts are very excited to announce proposals to explore an within the AONB – Tandridge, Reigate & Banstead, Countryside on our doorstep extension to the Surrey Hills AONB, a move we hope will Mole Valley, Guildford and Waverley – will be able to In Guildford, we are lucky to have countryside with sweeping views and green open spaces rich in diverse boost nature’s recovery and help more people access get involved, taking our cues from the AONB team. wildlife habitats right on our doorstep. Our easy access to beautiful and life-enhancing countryside is one of the main reasons the Surrey Hills AONB continues to be voted by The Times as the best place to live in the South East. Yet areas within the AONB and Green Belt in Guildford continue to be under threat from over- development. A short walk from Pewley, by the Merrow Downs, the playing fi elds of Urnfi eld are currently facing a planning application intensifying its use for an artifi cial hockey pitch fl oodlit by eight columns standing at 13 metres tall – nearly three times the height of a double decker bus. Such visually intrusive fl oodlighting is both harmful to the natural environment and to our enjoyment of the countryside by day and by night. It is vital that people continue to rally to the defence of precious and vulnerable open spaces. The Covid-19 pandemic has made us all the more aware of how much access to green space matters. We are beginning to understand the true extent of the health benefi ts (both physical and mental) that come from connecting with the nature and wildlife around us. Such natural assets as tranquillity and dark skies are vital to our wellbeing. One hundred years on, the preservation of our countryside remains as important as ever; but history has repeated itself in a wonderful way – through local residents coming together to protect Pewley Down Fields Panaromic view from Newlands Corner in perpetuity. Let that be an example to all of us. Alivia Kratke is a volunteer for CPRE Surrey CONTENTS 18 Gunpowder Mills restored 2 Go-ahead for Surrey Hills AONB review 19 A natural burial at Clandon Wood “The key criteria under consideration are whether a the Suff olk Coast and Heaths Boundary extension took ISSN 2515-5105 3 Protecting Guildford’s countryside 20 Green Belt housing scam – landscape has outstanding natural beauty, whether it years to complete. Even once their Order was submitted Magazine of the Surrey Campaign 4 From the Chair a personal view is desirable to designate and include an area in the in 2019 it took DEFRA a further year to confi rm the to Protect Rural England 7 Glossary of designations 21 Saving Whitehall Farm from the diggers AONB for its conservation and enhancement of its extension in July 2020. However, the result for Surrey’s PO Box 865, Godalming, 8 Editor’s Comment 22 Music in the Surrey countryside natural beauty, and where the extended boundary countryside will be worth the wait, with a higher Surrey GU7 9LH 10 4x4s causing damage to Surrey Hills 23 Obituaries: Peter Ainsworth should be drawn. Natural England will consult with the proportion (currently 25%) protected for conservation 11 How our Green Belt is being eroded and Max Rosenberg Tel: 01372 700205 County Council and those district councils aff ected by as a Nationally Important Landscape.” 12 Our Surrey Story 24 Community action for the environment Email: [email protected] proposed boundary variations, followed by a full public 14 Planning becomes interesting ______For more information go to the CPRE Surrey website www.cpresurrey.org.uk consultation. They will then submit an Order extending 15 Gatwick’s Big Enough Surrey Campaign to Protect Rural England (www.cpresurrey.org.uk) and download the Surrey Hills Twitter @CPRESurrey 16 Leading the recovery of our Limited, Registered Charity No. 1106245, the AONB boundary to the Secretary of State for the Boundary Review Report dated 22 June 2021. EDITOR: Andy Smith FCIJ night skies Company Limited by Guarantee No. 04551761. Environment, for confi rmation. The AONB Board are keen to streamline the process, bearing in mind that 2 | SURREY VOICE – Summer 2021 SURREY VOICE – Summer 2021 | 3 Why is CPRE so worried about the Green Belt? FROM THE CHAIR Around three quarters of Surrey is covered by the London Metropolitan Green Belt, and the majority of Surrey’s Green Belt is rural. As a small county so close to London we are naturally highly protective of By Kristina Kenworthy our Green Belt. To see large sites taken out of the Green Belt and allocated for housing is painful for local residents. Take, for example, the release for development of the former Wisley Airfield, Dunsfold Park, and What do we mean when use and value. Public and private landowners are Blackwell Farm, which have all been bitterly opposed by local communities. In all, London’s Green Belt covers we talk about Green constantly re-evaluating their portfolios and looking half a million hectares, or 1.2 million acres, so in real terms the percentages losses are still low and it would be Space, Open Space, for opportunities to sell land at prices undreamt of a short-sighted to think that no land could ever be released through the local plan process. Local Green Space or decade or so ago. Sites can only be removed from the In last summer’s Planning for the Future White Paper, the Government attempted to streamline and simplify Suitable Alternative Natural Green Belt in exceptional circumstances during plan- the planning process in order to deliver more homes. Back in 2012 the National Planning Policy Framework Greenspace? Why is some making but applications for speculative or inappropriate was a reduction of planning polices down to a fifty page document. As anyone involved in planning knows land described as greenfield development may be approved if very special the planning bar has been kept very busy ever since. So simplifying Local Plans to place land in three as opposed to brownfield? circumstances exist to justify building in the Green Belt. categories – growth areas, renewal areas and protected areas comes with its own set of complications Does it matter if land is The benefits of a scheme must objectively outweigh the and inevitable litigation. Ironically the lack of certainty may stall delivery and reduce supply. The Ministry of ‘inset’ or ‘washed over’ harms. By which we mean public benefits not benefits Housing, Communities and Local Government has assured us that the Green Belt would fall into the protected category. This is as much to allay the fears of Conservative MPs as it is a nod to CPRE and other Green Belt by the Green Belt? And is everything up for grabs for for shareholders – Persimmon plc made profits of a campaigners. The real rub is in the proposed nationally-determined and binding housing requirements and housing or are there some areas that must remain open billion pounds in 2018. In Surrey, if permission is how much of a constraint the Green Belt will, in reality, provide. With three quarters of Surrey covered, the for recreation or conservation of wildlife? It would surely granted for a housing development, the land value trend of releasing Green Belt is likely to continue. be unthinkable, for instance, if Hindhead, Banstead, increases by one hundred-fold. These land values Bookham or Chobham Commons were available to meet have a knock-on effect on the housing market which In determining planning applications for ‘inappropriate development’ in the Green Belt, we have seen ‘enabling future development needs. Or for Norbury Park to be is dominated by the six largest housebuilders, who development’ creeping into permissions for schools and charities to finance rebuilding or renovations by turned into an amusement park or Box Hill or the Devil’s control the supply of housing by land banking. building hundreds of houses in the Green Belt. The developments by Howard of Effingham School and Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People, in partnership with Berkeley Homes, are prime examples. Punch Bowl to be repurposed for anything other than There are said to be around one million unimplemented Yet, recently the Jockey Club’s application for 318 homes and a new hotel at Sandown Park, to enable the the conservation of rare habitats and for the landscape’s permissions for new homes in England. This transformation of the nationally-important racecourse at Esher, was blocked at the highest level. Elmbridge natural beauty. Yet speculative applications keep manipulation of the housing market is the problem not Council had originally turned it down on the grounds of harm to the Green Belt and lack of affordable housing. popping up in Surrey and we are frequently asked how the planning system, creaking and underfunded as it is. When the developers appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, local MP Dominic Raab, in support of his Esher land might be protected. The answer will depend on its Blame for the failure to deliver new homes, at affordable constituents, wrote asking his Cabinet colleague Robert Jenrick to ‘call in’ the scheme for his decision. The location and what designations and policies affect the prices, lies with the housebuilders not the planners. Secretary of State obliged and gave substantial weight to the harm to the openness and character and site – it may be in the Green Belt or countryside beyond. In the quest for developable plots – allotments, appearance of this part of Surrey’s Green Belt, leading him to refuse the developer’s appeal. This is a positive Farmland will require planning permission before any playing fields and forgotten sites of derelict land example of how the Green Belt policy of constraint on development being can be applied to good effect. development (unless agricultural) can take place under provide opportunities for cash strapped councils. our plan-led system. Open green spaces may already Barratt Homes’ option to buy Poor’s Allotments in cherish it for its rich biodiversity, will succeed in getting Dunsfold Aerodrome in countryside beyond the be protected as parks or nature reserves or as a Leatherhead springs to mind. Or release of recreational it designated as a Local Nature Reserve instead. Green Belt has suffered the same fate. registered common or village green. The first port of land to private clubs, in order to save on the cost of call should always be your Local Plan and, if there is maintenance or building new facilities, which may be Brownfield v Greenfield We supported the Chobham Society in resisting one, your Neighbourhood Plan. You can check out what a bonus but often leads to an intensification of use, proposals for a Garden Village at Fairoaks – with its The Ministry of Defence is a major landowner and policies and designations apply by going to Surrey reduction of public access and a loss of biodiversity. consequent loss of the airfield, local employment, open Surrey Heath makes no secret that it is looking at all County Council’s new Surrey Interactive Map: A case in point is Mole Valley’s BMX track at Ranmore. countryside and an alarming lack of infrastructure to available brownfield land and publicly-owned land to https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/land-planning-and- This has caused a clash between those who want it support new community of 2,000 dwellings in the Green meet the borough’s future development needs. CPRE Belt. While the applicants withdrew in early 2020, their development/interactive-map. leased out and those who don’t want this green site welcomes the choice of brownfield first when it comes stated intention is to bring a revised scheme forward for Land ownership is irrelevant when applying for planning to be commercialised. Given the outcry, there is hope to finding sustainable sites for building new homes. what they regard as the most “suitable strategic site for permission but highly material with regard to current that the volunteers offering to run it for local kids and However, not all brownfield sites are derelict industrial allocation in the emerging Surrey Heath Local Plan.” estates on the urban fringe. Godstone Garden Village is a Tandridge Council-led The tarmac runway at Three Farm Meadows (formerly project to build 4,000 new homes in the district’s Wisley Airfield) is brownfield land, the rest is open farmland Green Belt. The planning inspector found the Local Plan that served the purposes of the Green Belt magnificently. deeply flawed and, for now, it is back to the drawing Despite Wisley Action Group’s long campaign, supported board. But the push to build ‘Garden Communities’ on by CPRE Surrey, and Ockham Parish Council’s legal greenfield sites in Surrey’s Green Belt has not gone challenge, the site was removed from the Green Belt and away, nor will it while the national edict to build allocated for development in the Guildford Local Plan in 300,000 houses per annum remains. 2019. It was swiftly sold on to Taylor Wimpey who now Nature recovery have the opportunity to transform this disused site into a new settlement. There has to be provision of a In Surrey we have two European sites of nature conservation: The Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) to mitigate the recreational pressures on Wisley (continued on next page) and Ockham Commons (part of the Thames Basin Heath SPA). Future inhabitants will benefit from living in a new community in rural Surrey – from disused airfield to housing estate. 4 | SURREY VOICE – Summer 2021 SURREY VOICE – Summer 2021 | 5 (continued from previous page) and educational opportunities for Londoners and National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 – Surrey residents alike. Surrey has forty two Local GLOSSARY Established statutory designation and purposes of National Special Area of Conservation (Habitats Directive) which Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as Nature Reserves which can be selected, declared and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – Statutory is designated as the only area in the UK of stable box purpose of the Surrey Hills AONB – to conserve and National Nature Reserves and Local Nature Reserves. scrub growing on chalk slopes where the river Mole managed by local authorities or by Surrey Wildlife Trust. enhance the natural beauty of the designated landscape. National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – Sets out An LNR is an open space with wildlife or geological has cut through the North Downs; and the Thames Basin Brownfield means ‘previously developed land’ (PDL) in Government’s planning policies to achieve Sustainable Development. NPPF sets out the framework for Plan Heath (TBH) Special Protection Area (Wild Birds Directive). interest and it might well have been a brownfield site urban or suburban areas. In Surrey PDL in areas of open – like Inholm’s Clay Pit in North Holmwood. This old countryside has led to development on footprint of former Making, Delivery of homes, Conserving and Enhancing The latter is a network of highly protected heathland Natural and Historic Environment, Climate Change, etc – clay quarry for brick making is now a mixture of open airfields, nursery gardens, hardstanding and outbuildings. important for ground-nesting birds. Designation of search: NPPF_Feb_2019_revised.pdf. grassland and a new woodland, with a so