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