皇家华人

Your Surrey county NFU update

Josh Redford

Josh Redford

East Sussex and West Sussex County Adviser (maternity cover) and Surrey County Adviser

August has been a month of planning for the year and engaging with key stakeholders ahead of a busy winter of events and meetings.

With a focus on NFU regional board priorities, we鈥檝e got some great county level activity planned to supplement local branch activity in Surrey. This kicks off with meetings with Surrey police and member engagement on the Surrey Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) consultation.

Established by the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Ellie Vesey-Thompson, Surrey Police will be holding a rural crime forum on Monday 15 September at Busbridge Village Hall. This will be followed by a partnership meeting the following week to discuss the issues raised. Please do reach out for further information, sign up is via Eventbrite.

I鈥檝e already met with DPCC Ellie Vesey-Thompson and Chief Inspector Chris Tinney to feed in views voiced by members at recent branch meetings at the Oxted and Redhill branches. I also have a meeting planned with PCs from the Surrey Rural and Wildlife Crime Unit.

The Surrey LNRS public consultation runs until 25 September. The Surrey Nature Partnership are holding their own events to gain a depth of views.

皇家华人will be submitting a response to the consultation and if you would like to feed in your thoughts, please contact Polly Lawman at [email protected] and we will ensure these are fed into the consultation.

On Wednesday 10 September the industry celebrated Back British Farming Day, and this was our chance to champion farming at all levels.

It鈥檚 important that we use the momentum created by this event to continue raising the challenges the industry faces with key stakeholders. Continuing to write to and meeting with your MP is key if we are to get the changes we need.

Please reach out and get involved this winter and I look forward to meeting more of you as the winter meeting season progresses.

Local news

Could you play a key role on flood defence?

The RFCC (Regional Flood and Coastal Committee) for the South is recruiting a new chair. 

The RFCC is committed to reducing flood risk in the area, making communities more resilient and adapting to the challenges of a changing climate. 

RFCCs provide a vital link between government, risk management authorities and the communities they serve. 

The Southern RFCC covers coastal and inland areas from West Hampshire to East Kent and from the Isle of Wight to the London boroughs of Bexley and Bromley. 

It also includes the unitary authorities of Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton and Hove, and Medway. 

The chair plays a key role in working with local authority representatives, water companies and other committee members, helping to steer multi-million-pound investment in flood and coastal erosion risk management for the benefit of homes, businesses and local communities. 

This is a salaried position, with a commitment of five days per month and the deadline for applications is 30 September.

Surveys and questionnaires

Have your say on Surrey's Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The Surrey LNRS (Local Nature Recovery Strategy) public consultation is now open.

The strategy looks at which areas in the county could be prioritised for nature in the future. Its focus is not on implementation, but instead looks at which areas might be most suited for different nature recovery projects. You can take a look at how the land has been mapped using the link below, as well as leave comments or ask for your land to be removed.

The consultation will remain open until 25 September. We are planning to run an evening event in September to explain more about the strategy and what it means, so look out for further details.

Start date

27 August 2025 at 12:00am

End date

25 September 2025 at 12:00am