We are a small group of local residents living near Merrow Downs, part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We have been fighting a proposal to build floodlight towers over an artificial hockey pitch on a grass sports field on top of the downs. These floodlights would be visible for miles around as they are on a high point in an area with very little light pollution. The proposal is funded by a private school that would like to have its own facilities instead of continuing to use other local competition standard hockey pitches. 

Their application was unanimously rejected by the local council but overturned at Appeal and we want to challenge that appeal. We have  been advised by specialist environmental lawyers that we can challenge the impacts of the lighting through the law on protected species, namely bats and dormice.

As we are a group of local people who just love Merrow Downs and the wider Surrey Hills, we need to fundraise to secure legal and specialist ecological advice so that can protect this area. 

Most of us are parents too and support sporting participation for children, but our kids in Guildford are lucky enough to have a wide range of fantastic facilities available already. Putting floodlights in this location, in a nationally protected landscape, is environmental vandalism.

Right now we are trying to raise £5,000 to establish a Fllodlights Fighting Fund to cover the costs of the solicitor and the bat specialist.

If you care about protecting nationally important landscapes, or about the Surrey Hills itself, London's closest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, please help support our campaign. Thank you so much.