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Update: Campaigners Meet With Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn the 9th of December two Leith Hill campaigners met with the local MP to express their concerns and ask for his assistance. The meeting was in Dorking. Here is a brief report:

Another campaigner and I have just met with Sir Paul Beresford…

We went through several points and raised the concerns of local residents to the plans for Leith Hill.

He spoke to us about his involvement in the campaign this far – he said has been working with the Leith Hill Action Group for many years.

He was well informed on the process although seemed a little out of the loop on the levels of support for the protection camp and the objection to the oil drilling.

He told us that the drilling itself was a lost cause but urged us very strongly to concentrate on the pipeline. He repeated this several times and suggested that this should be our main focus.

He seemed a little reluctant to be drawn on making a statement but was not entirely closed to the prospect and he was happy to stay in contact on it all.

We thank Sir Paul for the meeting.

Sir Paul’s record in Hansard (Parliamentary voting record, debate contributions, and statements) is here.

What is Happening At Leith Hill?

Bury Hill Wood at Leith Hill, Surrey is under serious threat from oil drilling.

Get informed on this site and the links below.

You can help stop it. Please join us.

Visit the Camp! Click here for directions.

Facebook Group for Leith Hill Protection Camp.
Local campaign group focussing on using the planning system Leith Hill Action Group.
Local community group A Voice For Leith Hill.
Website for the Surrey protection community surreyprotectors.com.
Like the Facebook Page SaveLeithHill.
Follow on Twitter @SaveLeithHill.

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Leith Hill Protection Camp Update: “It was a really really good day at the camp today”.

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camp-update-photo-save-leith-hill

Yesterday Colin posted an update on recent visitors to Leith Hill Protection Camp, and some insights into Camp life. Thanks for the update Colin.

If you’ve not visited Camp yet they’d be pleased to see you. That’s why they’re there.

Colin says:

It was a really really good day at the camp today.

It started with an upbeat camp meeting in the morning to tighten a few things up, and then everyone went about their various activities, with everyone very focused and applying themselves to the things they are good at. Add to that the usual constant stream of visits from the very best people one could ever wish to meet, and for the whole day it was just a total pleasure to be here.

As well as the people who now visit the camp regularly, there were several who visited for the first time. Although most of those people were already fairly well informed about the situation, by the time some of them left, they had learned of new reasons to be even more outraged by the situation then they were when they arrived! ….and importantly of course, they then left with a renewed commitment to do everything in their power to protect Leith Hill from unwanted invaders 😉

Also, at one point it was really good to stand back and watch one well informed, passionate and determined local person engaging with another local person in such a way as to inspire them to an increased level of engagement with the issue. It really showed up for me the potential of the Camp to be a hub where the growing resistance that is stirring awake in the local community can coalesce.

It is a great place for connections to be made and for idea’s to be formed and shared.

Thank you to John & Maryline for making the 4 hour round trip over from east Kent, to supply the camp with a new solar panel to help keep everything powered up as we head into to darkest part of the yearly cycle, and for sharing so freely the love you can see in this photo of them! Thank you too to everyone who has donated to the Bore Free South fund that they administer in order to support the camp with this kind of equipment.

Thank you also to Catherine, who just happened to be passing, but pulled in to see what was going on here. After being informed over a half hour cuppa, she took herself off…
…only to return a couple of hours later, bearing so many gifts that she couldn’t carry them all in one go! ..and strikingly, one of her gifts just happened to be the top item on the days ‘wish list’ that had been compiled at the morning meeting, without her having seen or heard about it!

Another day, and another Leith Hill protector is born.

What is Happening At Leith Hill?

Bury Hill Wood at Leith Hill, Surrey is under serious threat from oil drilling.

Get informed on this site and the links below.

You can help stop it. Please join us.

Visit the Camp! Click here for directions.

Facebook Group for Leith Hill Protection Camp.
Local campaign group focussing on using the planning system Leith Hill Action Group.
Local community group A Voice For Leith Hill.
Website for the Surrey protection community surreyprotectors.com.
Like the Facebook Page SaveLeithHill.
Follow on Twitter @SaveLeithHill.

Last Ramble?

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last-ramble-save-leith-hill

Bury Hill Wood at Leith Hill, Surrey is under serious threat from oil drilling.

You can help stop it. Join us. Get informed on this site and the links below.

Facebook Group for Leith Hill Protection Camp.
Local campaign group focussing on using the planning system Leith Hill Action Group.
Local community group A Voice For Leith Hill.
Website for the Surrey protection community surreyprotectors.com.
Like the Facebook Page SaveLeithHill.
Follow on Twitter @SaveLeithHill.

How to Object To The Drill Site Size Increase Planning Application – With Link

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Clayton Wellman added this article to the Leith Hill Protection Camp Facebook group.

Click here to read the online Application Display on the Surrey County Council planning website.

Clayton says:

You can comment on (object to) the new plans to increase the size of the site and add perimeter fence and guardposts etc here: http://planning.surreycc.gov.uk/plancomment.aspx…

screen-shot-2016-12-06-at-10-20-59If it is helpful, this is what I wrote:

“This application should not be allowed to go forward without a further Environmental Impact Assessment for the new site parameters The site being in such a sensitive location in unspoiled woodland at the heart of the Surrey Hills AONB demands that any environmental impact be carefully considered. The change to the plans is a material change with substantial increase in erections and size. Not only that, it means the site will now extend closer to waterways and the threat of contamination will thereby be increased further. This must be reconsidered, otherwise it is, in my view, no longer legal or valid as it is markedly different from the plans passed previously

Furthermore, the site is completely unsuitable for access and construction. The lanes leading to it are extremely narrow, high banked and with ancient woodland lining the sides. It will be impossible for HGVs to get up and down to the site without causing irreparable damage. This is a direct threat to the AONB. No traffic management plan will be suitable and the plans should fail on this point alone.

On a general note, the primary purpose of the AONB designation is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the landscape, with two secondary aims: meeting the need for quiet enjoyment of the countryside and having regard for the interests of those who live and work there. These plans and those that came before entirely contradict these purposes. They threaten all aspects of the AONB status and designation. The proposal is unwanted by the community, it brings no benefits to those who live and work in the area and it will destroy the peace and opportunity for quiet enjoyment. It is obvious to see that rather than conserve and enhance, it will destroy, pollute and degrade. In short, the application is not suitable for this location whatsoever and should clearly be rejected altogether.”

The threat is bigger than Leith Hill – it’s the whole Weald area

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Becoming More Educated & Informed about what is Planned at Leith Hill and in the wider weald area

There are many good sources of information, all out there and easily accessible via your finger tips – from the planning docs on the Councils website to national Extreme Energy campaign sites like ‘Frack Off’.

http://frack-off.org.uk/fracking-the-weald-the-growing-tight-oil-threat/

The websites of companies in the consortium of 5 who want to ‘drill the hill’ can also make for interesting reading…. as well as ‘investor chat forums’, more technical sites like the BGS. National & local planning policy documents may be relevant reading for some, whilst others may be more drawn more to researching the recent history of drilling in the States in similar geological formations such as the Bakken & Eagle Ford Shale Plays (brace yourself for that one though – it can read like a horror story at times!)
For background info on the particulars of the Leith Hill situation, and how it has developed over the last 7 years, the newsletter section of The Leith Hill Action Groups website is an excellent resource.
I am sure there is at least some truth in the old saying ‘knowledge is power’ ?!