New Society founded to protect Surrey Hills

[marksimonbrown]

Society to protect downland hills 

BBC News Online
Sat 13th Oct 2007
Ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/7043267.stm

A society is being set up to safeguard downland that was one of the 
first landscapes to be protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural 
Beauty (AONB). 

The Surrey Hills area became an AONB in 1958, and now support is 
being sought for a campaign against new pressures. 

Michael Sydney, from the Surrey Hills Partnership, said development, 
traffic, and loss of traditional land management were increasing 
threats. 

A meeting to set up a Surrey Hills Society is taking place on 24 
October. 

Mr Sydney, partnership chairman, said: "As we approach the 50th 
anniversary of the designation, we are seeking public support in 
protecting the Surrey Hills and ensuring that it remains a treasure 
for the next 50 years and beyond." 

The Surrey Hills area covers more than a quarter of the county. 

Its hills stretch across the chalk North Downs that run from Farnham 
in the west to Oxted in the east, and it also includes the Greensand 
Hills, the Devil's Punch Bowl and Leith Hill. 


See Also: The website of Save Surrey Green Belt and the Campaign to 
stop "Eashing Farm" industrial quarry - a huge 1000-metre-wide ' 
quarry adjacent to the A3 south of Guildford. 
http://www.sshac.org.uk/ssh_S005.html