We've sorted rich flood of ideas and vision elements shared into four broad groups; you can access the other groups – and a catch-all group - below.
• Transport, public, private and activeLand & Nature
• Trees give more joy than grass/parks. Let's keep the things that are good.
• Have a dedicated area of garden for wildflowers and pollinators.
• Turn churchyards into sensory and wildflower gardens.
• Land in Surrey is not being managed with ecology and diversity in mind; create ecology corridors and encourage farmers to be involved.
• Current agricultural practices are depleting the soil and exploiting the natural
• Grassroots initiatives e.g. allotments. A holistic approach to food addressing the need side, the waste side. More engaged in growing, in food clubs redistributing waste which are already increasing in scope.
• Tree planting - also, has read article from Royal Horticultural Society about the kind of shrubs that can be planted along busy roads to absorb pollution.
• Surrey Wildlife reaction to Ash dieback; a need for replanting.
• 'Healthy space' in every sense of the word, let's think about quality of life, our principles and our purpose.
• No more disconnect between us and nature. More education to link us back to the environment and the natural world so we can connect our children to the world around them.
• No more 'London Creep' and erosion of the Green belt.
• We need to keep the natural world around us, not just pave it over.
• The way to mitigate climate change is to pay attention to habitats through collaborations. Less industrialisation and more habitat restoration. Incorporate natural spaces wherever we can.
• Small groups can effect change, particularly if they focus on one thing. There is a plan to plant over 1.2 million trees in Surrey and more engagement is needed with the tree wardens to get buy in for the proposed locations.
• Rewilding and the effects of land management e.g. how scrub clearing in Bookham has destroyed the local nightingale population.
• More community space and green space in Dorking – and also greater access to green space and landscape. Land ownership is too concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few.
• Green spaces to used promote healthy culture and generally improve people's health.
• Universal access to fresh, local food.
• Access to land and green space. Would like a wider group of people to have agency over how land is managed and developed.
• Build respect for wildlife and the natural world.
• Tackle the problems of climate.
• Better farming methods with less pesticides and herbicides.
• Our environment is being destroyed and can't see how we get out of it. Individual solutions won't necessarily help, for example more electric cars means more batteries which means more exploitation of the world's resources.
• Find our link to nature.
• Have the opportunity to buy local organic wildlife-friendly food. To have a Michelin Guide to Farms.
• Improve sterile spaces, find funding for communities to purchase these spaces to develop them into a beautiful nature reserve for nature therapy and mental health. All-inclusive with the opportunity for one to one sessions and group therapies surrounded by nature.
• Educate people about climate change
• Walks in the local area to experience the small things, grass, insects, birds, all wildlife.
• Land restoration is a wonderful idea.
• I agree it's really hard to find out who owns land, like local woodland with rubbish in it, to find out who's responsible for the rubbish.
• local food, bringing a focus on what are we producing. What do we in the local area do well that we can get people engaged in, to be proud in what we're genuinely growing. Let's see growers sending directly to people and local veg boxes – an East Surrey Veg Box instead of one from Devon.
• All bits of land not actively in use to be restored for nature. Make a verge a space that can thrive. Do something with every small bit of land through habitat management, like the Incredible Edible group, nature reserves, or rewilding. Let's have thriving landscapes which humans can engage with, or re-wild, rather than old bits of land. Getting permission will be an issue and we could create a database or online network with information on who owns each bit of land to help enable people's interest in these projects.
• Deeper change is needed and we need to tap into the love of nature. Start in schools by inspiring compassion for the planet. Aware of agriculture's role in this area and the need to hold the farmers and landowners to account in farming sustainably.
• See East Surrey in 2030 with a secure supply of potable water, plus conserved, valued and sustainably managed countryside.
• A greater understanding is needed of the effects of the environment on us.
• A well-funded and staffed Environment Agency.
• Locally produced food and economy
• A clean river (Mole, no sewage)
• Re-wild Gatwick.
• Preserve and protect trees; landowners to no longer be allowed to cut down ancient trees and replace them with 4 new ones.
• A notion of community that includes other organisms and is not human-centric.
• NO more ecocide.
• Stop exploiting nature, particularly the trees that help to reduce air pollution. Mature trees are protected.
• Can we imagine a town that's 'reforested' in order to improve our resilience to climate change through natural means.
• Ability to be in silence when out in nature in say, Norbury Park. Less noise pollution.
A shared vision for 'Land, Nature and Housing'?
At the end of the 22 April Assembly each breakout room presented the 3 most common themes from their participants' contributions. Here's a Vision Statement based on those 33 summary elements; that vision can be made much richer by inclusion of the detail from above.When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.
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