The Surrey Hills – farmland and woods, heaths and villages. The view from YOUR house, from YOUR car window, the place where YOU walk, picnic, cycle or work. If you care about your view, about your point of view, this is the time to make yourself heard and we want to hear from you.
Public consultation on the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan 2009-14 runs until September 15. This plan has the teeth to fight threats to the landscape so it is crucial that the policies are right.
Are you worried about development? About industry, quarrying, gas extraction, traffic? Would you like to see better promotion of farming and tourism? Is there a need for tougher control of off-road vehicles?
Issues addressed include trunk roads, traffic pressure on rural lanes, crowded skies, the vulnerability of farming and forestry, street sign clutter, damage caused by visitor numbers and the effect of climate change on native species. The draft policies deal with the varied types of landscape, for example chalk downland and sunken lanes.
Any development in the Surrey Hills has to take the Management Plan policies into consideration and the Surrey Hills Board can hold public bodies, companies and utilities to account, so this is an important chance to put a rigorous framework in place for the protection of this beautiful stretch of countryside.
"Over 30,000 people live in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,” says Board Chairman Michael Sydney. “This is your chance to put forward your views as to how this landscape should be managed, conserved, and enhanced for your benefit and that of generations to come."
To view the draft Management Plan click here
You can easily have your say by downloading an on-line survey or alternatively your comments and letters can be emailed to rob.Fairbanks@surreyhills.org or posted to Rob Fairbanks, Surrey Hills AONB Office, Warren Farm Barns, Headley Lane, Mickleham, Surrey RH5 6DG. Deadline is the middle of September and a revised draft will be prepared in October 2008. Don't miss your chance to have your say in how your views are managed and protected.