Recent News Articles
Hands off our Green Belt!
April 2008
In August 2007 the Government-appointed Panel of Inspectors issued their report on the draft South East Plan recommended an additional 10% increase in house building for the South East, with a new total of 32,000. This summer, CPRE Surrey will be campaigning to preserve our Green Belt. more
Talking rubbish
April 2008
Litter is the most widespread blight of our public spaces and countryside. It is costing councils in excess of half a billion pounds annually to clear it up. Bill Bryson is heading CPRE's new national campaign to fight litter and fly-tipping. more
What's happened to our urban trees?
April 2008
Surrey’s leafy suburbs are changing - as a result of cost-cutting measures, Surrey County Council has decided to stop replacing old and diseased trees along public highways. Attractive suburban streets are turning into harder urban landscapes with less natural greenery. Please lobby your your Councillor to call for a new approach. more
From the Chairman - Tim Harrold
April 2008
Tim reports on some of the developments in regional planning over the past few months - the South East Plan, the Regional Spatial Strategy and the Sub-National Review of Economic Development and Regeneration (SNR) - dry stuff but very important. more
No Eco-Town at Dunsfold
April 2008
Of the 15 first sites shorlisted by the Government as potential eco-towns, none is located in Surrey.
CPRE Hampshire and CPRE Surrey will work together in monitoring how the consultation process on Borden-Whitehill proceeds, just across the border into Hampshire. more
Planning Reform Danger
April 2008
The Planning Reform Bill focuses strongly on economic development, with little regard for the environmental consequences. One of its worrying proposals is a an Infra-structure Planning Commission, an unelected body with power to decide on huge new development projects.
The battle at Betchworth
April 2008
Despite strong objections from local residents and CPRE Surrey, planning permission has been given by SCC for the extraction of 700,000 tons of sand from a site on the historic Common Field at the centre of the attractive village of Betchworth, near Dorking. more
Fighting for Mickleham's heritage
April 2008
CPRE Surrey has objected strongly to an application on Mickleham Downs where a unique grouping of estate buildings could be demolished and redeveloped as courtyard housing. more
Cranleigh brickworks appeal success
April 2008
The brickworks site south of Cranleigh in open countryside was formerly used as a chemical works which left the land contaminated with heavy metal residues. SCC declared that this site was in need of remediation. CPRE argued ‘enabling’ development was wholly inappropriate if the effect was to substitute one unsustainable development for another, and the appeal was refused. more
A3 goes underground
April 2008
Work is well underway on the road improvement project at Hindhead which will replace the last remaining stretch of single carriageway on the London to Portsmouth A3. The £371 million initiative will remove the notorious bottleneck at the traffic lights junction with the A287. more
The continuing saga of Walton Bridge
April 2008
CPRE Surrey gave evidence at a lengthy Public Inquiry into the proposed replacement bridge at Walton on Thames in 2005/6. A new planning application was submitted in October 2007 and this was approved by the Surrey County Council Planning Dept in January. more
Local Development Frameworks: progress or lack of it
April 2008
Progress on Surrey district and borough Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), and in particular the most important document, the Core Strategy (CS), has been slow. The notable exception is Epsom & Ewell, which adopted its CS in 2007. more
News from the Surrey Hills
April 2008
In time for its 50th Anniversary in May a new board has been established as the decision-making body for the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), with Councillor Michael Sydney as Chairman. CPRE Surrey has been invited to nominate an advisory member to the board and Tim Harrold has accepted this role. more
More quarry trouble at Bletchingley
April 2008
We have reported previously on problems of noise and dust being experienced by residents at Bletchingley from WBB's North Park Quarry. Following numerous complaints, a retrospective application has belatedly been submitted by the operators to SCC. more
Effingham Junction going modular?
April 2008
Network Rail has selected Effingham Junction for a new modular station that is supposed to be an exemplar for other similar locations in Surrey. more
Incinerator debate hotting up?
April 2008
CPRE Surrey has long expressed its concern about Surrey County Council's declared intention to build mass burn incinerators as a way of dealing with the county's residual waste. Under a 25 year legally binding contract, the county authority is committed to allow two such plants to be built in Surrey. more
Hampton Court eyesore
April 2008
There seem to be few admirers of the planning proposal on the site of the Jolly Boatman pub and car park adjacent to Hampton Court station, and overlooking the Thames. more
Coincidence or trend?
April 2008
There have been two dwellings recently, concealed until their completion - one in a barn, and the other behind straw bales ...... more
Beatrix Potter hamlet threat
April 2008
Woodcote is a little hamlet in the nationally important Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty whose cluster of farm buildings has been renovated carefully over the years to ensure that distinctive character and identity is not lost. more
Heathrow expansion a disaster for the environment
December 2007
Local countryside campaigners are up in arms over the Government’s plans for a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow Airport, which they say will lower the quality of life of local communities in a large part of West London. more
New news story
June 2008
text of story here more
CPRE Surrey newsletter - "Surrey Voice"
December 2007
News stories from the last CPRE Surrey newsletter. more
