The Autumn 2018 edition of SURREY VOICE, the magazine of the Surrey Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is out now, with all the latest news and commentary on the fight to save Surrey’s countryside.

The Surrey Branch of CPRE has welcomed Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s decision not to renew the licence for Europa Oil & Gas to drill for oil on Leith Hill in the heart of the Surrey Hills AONB. The decision to block oil drilling at the site was made to protect Leith Hill’s precious ancient woodland. CPRE Surrey Director Andy Smith said: “We welcome Michael Gove’s decision and hope this not only stops Europa from ravaging Leith Hill but also leads to the termination of all oil exploration in the Surrey Hills and the Weald. It is disgraceful that Europa ever had...

CPRE Surrey has welcomed the High Court decision to proceed with a judicial review of the Waverley Local Plan. CPRE Surrey and the Protect-Our-Waverley campaign group both challenged Waverley Borough Council’s decision to adopt a Local Plan with inflated housing figures imposed on it by Planning Inspector Jonathan Bore, supposedly to meet “unmet housing need” from Woking Borough Council. The additional 1,500 new houses would mostly have to be built in “protected” countryside.

The Summer 2018 issue of Surrey Voice, the CPRE Surrey members’ magazine, is out now – with all the latest news and views about CPRE’s work to defend Surrey’s countryside and Green Belt. 

The Court of Appeal has ruled against NHS Property Services trying to prevent a cherished area of greenspace in Leatherhead – Leach Grove Wood – being given statutory protection from development. Local resident Flip Cargill and the Leatherhead Residents Association, supported by the Surrey Branch of CPRE, applied several years ago to register the common land close to Leatherhead Hospital as a ‘village green’ under the Commons Act 2006. Surrey County Council (SCC) agreed to register it, giving Leach Grove Wood protection under the law.

The Surrey Branch of CPRE is challenging the adoption by Waverley Borough Council of its Local Plan: Part 1 Strategic Policies and Sites. CPRE Surrey has launched this challenge on the grounds that the Planning Inspector who examined the draft Plan, Mr Jonathan Bore, “failed to take into account the environmental constraints and specifically the harm to the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the London Metropolitan Green Belt”.

The annual general meeting of CPRE Surrey Branch will take place at Tyrrells Wood Golf Club, The Drive, Leatherhead KT22 8QP on Tuesday 3rd July 2018, starting at 6.30pm. The guest speaker will be Christine Drury, Chair of CPRE Kent, who will speak on The North Downs Way: 40 Years of the National Trail.

CPRE Surrey has welcomed the draft London Plan, published last week by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and has called for local authorities in Surrey to revise their own Local Plans to take account of the Mayor’s proposals. CPRE, which is fighting to defend Green Belt countryside and green spaces threatened by development pressures in Surrey, believes that local councils outside London should emulate Mr Khan’s pledge to protect the Green Belt.