Surrey community action

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Surrey.
Council in Surrey launching an action fund for projects which help tackle the impact of climate change, BBC News (Jul 13, 2024) — Elmbridge Borough Council say the fund is for projects that make a "tangible difference" to education around carbon emissions, biodiversity enhancement, and energy, water, and waste reduction
Horse Hill: Historic win as Supreme Court upholds landmark climate case, Sarah Finch, wealdactiongroup.org.uk (Jun 20, 2024) — Surrey County Council acted unlawfully by giving planning permission for oil production at Horse Hill in the Surrey countryside without considering the climate impacts of when the oil is inevitably burned, the Supreme Court has ruled today.
Ministers accused of ‘environmental crime’ over South Downs oil drilling, theguardian.com (Aug 23, 2023)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
- Transition Farnham
- Transition Haslemere
- Transition Redhill
- Woking Environment Action, link checked 17:31, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
Events
Regular events
Food activism
Grace + Flavour, community fruit & vegetable-growing co-operative for East & West Horsley.
Community energy
In the United Kingdom the first sustainable community energy system was pioneered by Woking Borough Council, starting in 1991. The system uses traditional and a phosphoric acid fuel cell co-generation plants, thermal storage, heat fired absorption cooling and photovoltaics (over 9% of the UK's small capacity), to supply both residential and non-residential customers, as well as the Council's own facilities. By end of 2005 there were over 60 generating islands in the Borough.
Despite the investment in the plant, the system delivers cheaper energy than can be supplied from the traditional 'brown energy' suppliers, helping to tackle fuel poverty. It is part of a plan to cut local carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050. Their initiatives won the Council the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2002.
Action Surrey - Wikipedia: Woking, Energy policy
Land
- Surrey Interactive Map, on surreycc.gov.uk, link checked 16:26, 28 December 2024 (UTC)
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
Farnham Repair Cafe on Facebook
Climate action
- Talking Tree, Climate Emergency Centre and cafe on Staines High Street, projects include a Community fridge, added 10:45, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
- What Next?, Godalming based environmental charity, added 10:22, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
- Dorking Climate Emergency, Surrey based Climate action group, added 17:48, 23 June 2021 (UTC)
- Zero Carbon Guildford, helping the borough of Guildford reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Currently acquiring a space to act as a Climate Emergency Centre. added 15:30, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
- Surrey declare climate emergency, July 2019...climateemergency.uk
- Staines, Guildford and Farnham have Climate emergency centre groups...Handbook, Climate emergency centre
- Extinction Rebellion Reigate and Redhill
- Horse Hill Rebel Alliance on facebook
- What is Surrey County Council doing about climate change? surreycc.gov.uk
- Surrey Climate Commission, a collaboration of organisations, launched in June 2019
Sustainable transport activism
Walking: Wikipedia: Footpaths in Surrey (category)
Waterways:
The River Wey Navigation and Godalming Navigation together provide a 20-mile (32 km) continuous navigable route from the River Thames near Weybridge via Guildford to Godalming (commonly called the Wey Navigation). Both waterways are in Surrey and are owned by the National Trust. The River Wey Navigation connects to the Basingstoke Canal at West Byfleet, and the Godalming Navigation to the Wey and Arun Canal near Shalford. The navigations consist of both man-made canal cuts and adapted (dredged and straightened) parts of the River Wey.
Cycling activism
Biodiversity
Open spaces
About Surrey
Campaigns
Surrey () is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking.
The county has an area of 1,663 km2 (642 square miles) and a population of 1,214,540. Much of the north of the county forms part of the Greater London Built-up Area, which includes the suburbs within the M25 motorway as well as Woking (103,900), Guildford (77,057), and Leatherhead (32,522). The west of the county contains part of built-up area which includes Camberley, Farnham, and Frimley and which extends into Hampshire and Berkshire. The south of the county is rural, and its largest settlements are Horley (22,693) and Godalming (22,689). For local government purposes Surrey is a non-metropolitan county with eleven districts. The county historically included much of south-west Greater London but excluded what is now the borough of Spelthorne, which was part of Middlesex. It is one of the home counties.
The defining geographical feature of the county is the North Downs, a chalk escarpment which runs from the south-west to north-east and divides the densely populated north from the more rural south; it is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole, both tributaries of the Thames. The north of the county is a lowland, part of the Thames basin. The south-east is part of the Weald, and the south-west contains the Surrey Hills and Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons, an extensive area of heath. The county has the densest woodland cover in England, at 22.4 per cent.