Surrey

Location data
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Location Surrey, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51° 16' 17.51" N, 0° 20' 29.23" W

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.

News

Surrey
South East England
UK
Europe
Earth
  • News A friend of the Earth: how I stopped Surrey becoming the new Texas, observer.co.uk (Jun 20, 2025)
  • News 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
  • News 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.
Read more
  • News England facing drastic measures due to extreme drought next year, theguardian.com (Nov 08, 2025) — Government and water companies are devising emergency plans for worst water shortage in decades. Comment: It surely then doesn't make sense to plan for and enable such a high proportion of new build in the most water stressed parts of England such as the South East?
  • News Legal challenge begins against Gatwick expansion, BBC News (Oct 15, 2025)
  • News Bottom trawling ban hailed by fishing groups, BBC News (Sep 29, 2025) — Fishing campaigners say a bottom trawling ban in West Sussex could be a "blueprint of success" for other parts of the South East
  • News How heat from old coal mines became a source of local pride in this northern English town – new study, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
  • News ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)
  • News Beth Mead: ‘If we don’t adapt to climate change, football becomes a privilege, not a right‘, theguardian.com (Nov 19, 2025)
  • News Sharing soil, sweat and tears, ffcc.co.uk (Oct 30, 2025) — Are farm partnerships the future? We talk to the team behind Abunda to find out
  • News Renewable energy investment should come from defence budgets, say retired military leaders, theguardian.com (Oct 23, 2025) — Former European officers say spending on low-carbon power would make nations more resilient to threats from potential aggressors
  • News Green to Grey, How Europe is squandering the little nature it has left, greentogrey.eu (Oct 01, 2025)
  • News The Cambodian women rising up to protect their communal land, positive.news (Nov 20, 2025)
  • News Bees, Community, and Shared Futures, grassecon.substack.com (Nov 20, 2025)
  • News ‘Robot’ buses could bring more environmental benefits than public transport with drivers, theconversation.com (Nov 20, 2025)

Networks and sustainability initiatives

Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.

Northern Ireland community action, Haringey community action, West Midlands community action / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

Surrey video

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

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

Dorking Cycling Club

Biodiversity

Open spaces

News archive

  • News Ministers accused of ‘environmental crime’ over South Downs oil drilling, theguardian.com (Aug 23, 2023)
  • News Horse Hill oil - a legal challenge with real climate impact, friendsoftheearth.uk (Jun 28, 2023)
  • News Appeal for water customers to be mindful when turning on the tap, southeastwater.co.uk (Jul 11, 2022) — South East Water is asking people to be mindful of the amount of water they are using as hot temperatures push up demand beyond levels expected for the time of year. Water latest, southeastwater.co.uk
  • News Building Community Action Through Climate Hubs, Transition Together (Feb 27, 2022) — guide to community-led climate hubs from Zero Carbon Guildford
  • Six key issues Surrey County Council must address, Sarah Finch, Extinction Rebellion Reigate & Redhill, Feb 3, 2020...xrreigateandredhill.org

In July 2019, Surrey County Council declared climate emergency. Two months later, they gave the go-ahead to plans for four more oil wells at Horse Hill, near Gatwick. To highlight the dangers of more oil drilling in a time of climate emergency, there will be a demonstration in October. Sep 16, 2019...Horse Hill Rebel Alliance on facebook

  • 20 years of oil production at Horse Hill approved, Sep 11, 2019...drillordrop.com
  • Campaigners celebrate as oil drilling at Surrey Hills site is blocked, Sep 4, 2018...The Guardian
  • How Farnham UK's Repair Café Takes a Bite Out of Waste, Feb 23, 2017...transitionnetwork.org
  • Surrey moves away from incineration, Jan 6, 2010...ukwin.org.uk
  • Woking: Solar canopy is 'gateway' to town, Sep 11, 2007...BBC News
  • Woking shines in providing renewable energy, Jan 26, 2004...The Guardian

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 had an estimated population of 1,248,649 in 2024. The north of the county, which includes the towns of Staines-upon-Thames and Epsom, is densely populated and forms part of the Greater London conurbation. A second conurbation along the western border of the county includes Camberley and Farnham and extends into Hampshire and Berkshire. Woking is located in the north-west, and Guildford in the centre-west. The south of the county is rural, and its largest settlements are Horley in the south-east and Godalming in the south-west. For local government purposes Surrey is a non-metropolitan county with eleven districts. The county historically included much of south-west Greater London but did not include 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.

See also

Page data
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Cite as Phil Green (2014–2025). "Community action/Surrey". Appropedia. Retrieved November 28, 2025.