WelcomeLiz Cutter

Vice President, SALC

Surrey Hills AONB Board

Surrey Hills Family

Putting communities

at the heart of

delivering the AONB

Management Plan

Objectives of

AONB Management

Protect and enhance natural beauty

Promote public understanding and enjoyment

Promote social and economic well-being

Providing opportunities for

business enterprise and for all to

enjoy and appreciate its natural

beauty for their health and well-

being.

The Glover Review of Designated

Landscapes:

“Our country is changing fast. It is

becoming more diverse. More urban.

Much busier. New forms of farming,

carbon emissions, the sprawl of housing,

new technology and social shifts have

changed the relationship between people

and the countryside, and left nature and

our climate in crisis.

Our Designated Landscapes cannot carry

on as they do now.”

Glover themes:

Landscapes alive for

Nature and Beauty

Landscapes for

Everyone

Living in Landscapes

Working with parish councils

and community groups:

Planning – your advice on policy and development proposals

Nature recovery – your community wildlife schemes

Highway and Access – delivering Community Rail

Partnerships, Greenways and Green (Quiet) Lanes

Awareness campaigns – encourage visitors to Respect

Sustaining the economy – supporting shops, pubs, local producers

VISION

Our Vision is for a thriving rural economy of sustainable and growing local businesses

which contribute to environmental sustainability and reflect and enhance the distinct and

special nature of the Surrey Hills.

AIMS – 5 strands

❖ Business Community – supporting the rural economy focusing on ‘Clean Growth’

❖ Visitor & Tourism Economy - based on the quality of the environment and its localproduce, artisans and services

❖ Environmental sustainability – reduce environmental impact and conserve & enhance the Surrey Hills

❖ Local Produce - develop a market for local produce that reflects the special nature andquality of the locality

❖ Local Communities & wider public - Raise awareness of local produce, localbusinesses and the Surrey Hills to the wider public

Surrey Hills Arts aims to engage and connect

people with the landscape through their

programme of events, artworks and activities.

Recent projects include:

Forest Listening an audio visual installation

exploring the sounds of rainfall beneath ground.

Shown at Blackheath Forest and Watts Gallery

woodland.

Heathland Artworks a trail of 12 site-specific

installations at RSPB Farnham Heath by BA

and MA students from the University for the

Creative Arts.

www.surreyhillsarts.org

The Optohedron the latest artwork in the Inspiring

Views programme. This piece by Will Nash is

inspired by natural geometry and includes some

kaleidoscope features allowing people to view the

surrounding nature in a new way.

Inspiring Views – Two more projects are being

developed, one for Denbies Hillside and one for Titsey

Estate, Tandridge.

www.surreyhillsarts.org

Butterfly Conservation volunteers clear the view

• Promoting enjoyment and

preservation of the AONB

• Talks, visits and walks

• Shows and events across

Surrey

• Supporting volunteer activity

and charitable projects in the

Surrey Hills

Into the Wild

Transforming Lives and Habitats

in the Surrey Hills

• Support the Inspiring Views programme

• Provide grants for nature-based therapies

in the Surrey Hills for all ages, but

particularly for the young and vulnerable

and those with special needs

• Promote nature-based projects in the

community

• Promote access projects in the Surrey Hills

Making Space

for Nature

Rob Fairbanks

AONB Director

Amy Hammond

Lantern (UK) Ltd

25 Year Environment Plan

Defra Test & Trail

-Farming for the Future

National AONB programme

Farmer and land manager led

approach

Identifying key species:

- data

- indicators of habitat

- `resonance’

Woodland & Scrub

• Nightingale

• Purple emperor

• Barbastelle bat

• Silver washed fritillary

• Marsh tit

Hedgerow

• Hazel dormouse

• Brown hairstreak

• Turtle dove

• Barn owl

Heathland

• Dartford warbler

• Grayling

• Nightjar

• Cross-leaved heath

Chalk grassland

• Small blue

• Horseshoe vetch

• Bee orchid

• Salad burnet

Arable

• Harvest mouse

• Yellowhammer

• Grey partridge

• Corn spurrey

• Common fumitory

Pasture

• Lapwing

• Skylark

• Bumblebees

• Small copper

Water

• Great-crested newt

• Dragonflies/damselflies

• Kingfisher

• Water voles

Map examples-

Hedgerow indicators

species

Map examples-

Woodland

indicators species

Workshop feedback

Surrey Hills Symposium

on 25th November

By Zoom

Why nature recovery

matters and how we can

reverse the drastic decline

to achieve a healthy natural

environment.

Join the Debate:

Prof Max Lu

Marian Spain, CEO, Natural England

Professor Alastair Driver, Rewilding

Britain

Dan Raven-Elison, Campaigner

Extending the Surrey Hills

Clive Smith

Surrey Hills Planning Adviser

AONB BOUNDARY REVIEW TIMELINE

(Summary)

• 2006 Chris Burnett Assocs. Study of the AGLV

• 2007 Government agreed to save AGLV policies until Surrey Hills AONB boundary had been reviewed

• 2008 Surrey Hills AONB Board stressed to Natural England and Ministers urgency of the boundary review

• 2012 Natural England includes Surrey Hills boundary review as one of two reviews in its 2012-2018 work

programme and for Surrey Hills to follow Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB boundary review

• 2013 Hankinson Duckett Assocs. Landscape Character Assessment recommending to Natural England

AONBCandidate Areas

• 2014 Natural England agree to begin work on Boundary Review.

• 2015 – 2018 each year AONB Board chases Natural England to commence review

• 2018 Natural England indicates it cannot progress boundary review because of work on Government

Glover

Review of Protected Landscapes.

• November 2019 - Tandridge Local Plan Inspector queries status of AGLV and boundary review

• January 2020 Natural England non-committal about boundary review

• February onwards Board Chair starts lobbying Natural England, Defra, constituent Councils and MPs

• October 2020 6 Surrey MPs write to George Eustice Secretary of State for Defra

NATURAL ENGLAND'S NATURAL BEAUTY CRITERION FOR AONB DESIGNATION

Can be a combination of factors, such as:

• Landscape quality, where natural or man-made landscape is good

quality

• Scenic quality, such as striking coastal landforms

• Relative wilderness, such as distance from housing or having few

roads

• Relative tranquillity, where natural sounds, such as streams or

birdsong are predominant

• Natural heritage features, such as distinctive geology or species and

habitat

• Cultural heritage, which can include the built environment that makes

the area unique, such as archaeological remains or historic parkland

POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL CRITERION FOR

SUGGESTED NEW SURREY HILLS AONB

BOUNDARY

• aligning with adjacent Kent Downs AONB and South Downs

National Park boundaries

• incorporate the AGLV and AONB Candidate Areas

• `Rounding off` to include fragmented areas

• `washing over` settlements within the Surrey Hills

• extending into the extensive Parkland landscapes which abut

the AONB, (eg Clandon, Hatchlands and including parkland

golf courses eg Cherkley, RAC Epsom, Tyrrell’s Wood,

Clandon, Walton Heath etc)

Question TimeAnne Bott

Deputy CEO, SSALC Ltd