Surrey County Council has withdrawn its application to the Planning Inspectorate for a series of artificial play structures through the woodland at Newlands Corner. This followed the decision of the Planning Inspectorate to hold a Public Inquiry after receiving 1,100 objections against the proposals, which it described as unprecedented.
We made the Planning Inspectorate aware, with expert evidence, that this is vitally important ancient woodland, the habitat of a number of protected species and that the proposals would cause irreversible damage to the woodland and its habitat. The application did not mention any of these facts. We also made the Planning Inspectorate aware of the many commercial events that have taken place at Newlands Corner for financial return without its permission. The Planning Inspectorate is responsible for protecting common land and considering any works or development. This is common land, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its environment should be protected.
We also made all 82 councillors at Surrey County Council, the 13 trustees of Surrey Wildlife Trust, local parish councils and residents associations and many others, aware of these facts.
The statement made by Cllr Goodman of Surrey County Council, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport and project leader, can be seen by clicking the link at the end of this article.
We welcome this statement but have concerns that Surrey County Council has threatened to revisit this damaging, unwanted, unnecessary and expensive proposal. We will stay on the case to try to stop any inappropriate developments taking place at Newlands Corner.
Also, although Surrey County Council did receive permission from the Planning Inspectorate for car park charging meters and signs, we are revisiting this, to see if car park charges can still be stopped.
A huge Thank You goes to everyone who has backed the campaign so far, and to everyone who made objections against the artificial play structures. This was a massive result against a professional team at Surrey County Council, determined to commercialise and develop our iconic beauty spot for the money it could generate, regardless of the wishes of the people that love it, and regardless of its unique environment and species.
Save Newlands Corner 
September 12, 2017 at 5:21 pm
The thanks should go to you and others who kept us so well informed and coordinated the opposition to these unwarranted plans. I’m still smirking at the outcome but will stay alert to any moves by SCC to re-visit the ideas.
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September 12, 2017 at 5:54 pm
Many thanks and much appreciation to you and all those with you that have helped this decision come about and for keeping the rest of us informed of all that was going on during the meantime.
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September 13, 2017 at 11:11 am
Excellent news. For info & forewarning, I transcribe my email exchange with Mike Goodman yesterday, 12 Sept:
ME: Dear Mike, I’m delighted at this decision – well called! Looking to the future, please don’t now go looking for something else to ‘improve’ Newlands Corner. The parking charges approval is regrettable, but frankly I’ll live with that – In the present bizarre era in which local authority funding from central government is under intense pressure & exacerbated by the impending threat of Brexit, I fully appreciate that the public may now have to pay directly for some services that have always been free. In fact I have a gloriously simple proposal for you – Just charge for parking & don’t do anything else new! Everybody wins that way. We keep the Newlands Corner we love, and you get the extra maintenance revenue with absolutely no further commitment required! That way, you don’t have to waste the extra revenue on building/maintaining some bright new initiative that nobody wants & everybody hates.
I’m sure you realise how rarely this happens – A voter asking you to take more money from us, without having to do anything extra in return! It won’t happen often, so make the most of it!
MG: Thank you for your E mail. I can confirm that currently due to the cost of an enquiry we will not be proceeding with the trail for children, those with disabilities and dementia. However we will be reviewing this in the future, it is regrettable that we have had to make this decision at the current time.
Regards Mike
ME: Dear Mike, Children & those with disabilities & dementia already use Newlands corner on a daily basis. It ain’t bust – please stop trying to fix it. It’s entirely brilliant that you had to make this decision. The only regrettable thing is that you’re clearly itching to review it. You’ve got your parking charge approval – Quit while you’re ahead & turn your attention to something useful!
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September 13, 2017 at 2:21 pm
It’s a Great result .. !!
I think SCC will think long and hard before re-visiting the ‘Play Trails ‘ issue @ Newlands Corner again !
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