1 September 2021
Susan Parker attended the Surrey Hills AONB board meeting as the GBC representative on the board. Issues she raised included:
the review of the AONB boundaries - ensuring full public consultation and information;
requesting that public information for groups using the Surrey Hills brand should be made available and linked to the AONB website. The public sometimes confuse these groups with the AONB itself,and this is understandable because they are referred to as the Surrey Hills “family”, but there is no control, even though the groups have AONB board representation. Such groups include
Surrey Hills Enterprises (an umbrella company supporting companies in the area, accounts publicly available via Companies House, a commercial activity with its own directors and shareholders),
Surrey Hills Trust Fund (Trust fund; no public information available; self-appointed trustees) and
Surrey Hills Society (charity - accounts available from the Charity Commission);
requesting full public involvement / transparency as to decision-making for future meetings (including webcasting - this may not happen if meetings are in non-webcast locations);
suggesting future reviews of the constitution (currently light-touch, pending new government legislation) continues the involvement of local borough representatives, as currently required by the Crow Act; this is the only democratic representation on the AONB board at present. The AONB should not become a self-appointed, self-perpetuating, unregulated quango controlled by commercial interests.
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