Surrey Parks and Countryside Forum July 2025

Meeting Highlights

The Surrey Parks and Countryside Forum convened online on 1st July 2025, bringing together parks and countryside managers from across the county to share updates, discuss strategic projects, and strengthen collaboration on nature conservation. Here are the key takeaways from the session:

🐝 Buglife’s Chalk Grassland Restoration Project

Laura Larkin from Buglife introduced an exciting new initiative: the “Surrey Chalk Lines” project. This proposed follow-on to Space for Nature aims to:

Restore 30 hectares of species-rich grassland, including 15 hectares of chalk downland.
Support seven threatened invertebrate species, including the Adonis Blue butterfly and the Red-tailed Mason Bee.
Engage communities through workshops, surveys, and outreach to care homes and HMP Send.
Offer free land management advice to landowners along the B-Lines network.

📝 Buglife is seeking landowners, community input via a survey, and local contacts to support the project’s development ahead of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid.

🌾 Surrey Old Grasslands Inventory: A New Planning Tool

Mike Waite of Surrey Wildlife Trust presented the newly developed Old Grasslands Inventory, a comprehensive dataset identifying over 375 sites of long-established, species-rich grassland across Surrey.

Key points:

The inventory supports planning protection similar to ancient woodland.
It will inform the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and biodiversity net gain (BNG) assessments.
A GIS layer is available for planners, and a model policy is proposed for local authorities.

🗣️ A lively Q&A followed, raising important questions about planning policy, habitat connectivity, and funding eligibility. Mike confirmed that many sites could be enhanced and used for BNG offsets, and that the inventory provides a vital evidence base for local planning decisions.

🔄 Round Table Updates: Local Action in Motion

Forum members shared a wide range of updates, including:

Surrey Wildlife Trust: Expanding conservation grazing, chalk grassland restoration, and corporate volunteering.
Banstead Commons Management: Positive results from professional dog walker licensing and new plant surveys underway.
Woodland Trust: Dormouse and ash dieback surveys at Langley Vale Wood.
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council: Launch of a new Green Space Strategy and community tree watering initiatives.
Blackwater Valley: Grassland enrichment and an upcoming open day at Runfold.

🌿 Giant hogweed and hemlock were flagged as growing concerns across several sites.

📅 Looking Ahead

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy will open for public consultation on 31 July 2025. Register to have your say! Registration Link
The next Forum meeting is scheduled for 8 October 2025 (online).