Surrey Hills: Views sought on expansion plan for official beauty area

The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty already stretches across a quarter of the county

Views are being sought on plans to expand an official beauty spot in Surrey by 25%.

Natural England wants to designate another 100 sq km (62 sq miles) into Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

A public consultation exercise will run for 14 weeks, until 13 June.

A final decision would be made by the Secretary of State for the Environment, who has the power to call a public inquiry to consider any objections.

First designated in 1958, the Surrey Hills AONB stretches across a quarter of the county, from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east, and as far south as the Greensand Hills near Haslemere.

Allison Potts, Natural England area manager, said the launch of the public consultation "marks an exciting step forward in Natural England's ambitious landscape designation programme".

She added: "The local community have already played a fantastic part responding to our earlier call for evidence to support extensions to the AONB and we are now looking forward to hearing what people think of the formal proposals."

AONB status gives a landscape extra protection, and influences planning applications in the area.

People can give their views on the expansion through the website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The results will be considered by the board of Natural England when it decides whether to ask the Secretary of State to expand the AONB boundaries.

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