Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan

S5: RETAINING AND INVESTING IN NATURAL CAPITAL

The Council will work with the Surrey Nature Partnership, statutory and voluntary bodies, the Surrey Hills National Landscape Board, the River Mole Catchment Partnership and the development industry to protect and seek to replenish the natural capital of the District by:

1. Ensuring that any decline in species richness in Mole Valley is reversed;

2. Monitoring the trends in species recovery;

3. Managing its own landholdings to protect and enhance natural capital assets;

4. Providing mechanisms and policies to ensure that new development secures biodiversity net gain;

5. Supporting initiatives to achieve the objectives of the Water Framework Directive and the River Mole Catchment Management Plan;

6. Addressing issues of surface water drainage and fluvial flooding in ways that enhance wetland ecology and water quality;

7. Supporting the objectives of the Surrey Hills (National Landscape) Management Plan in balancing landscape protection and enhancement with public enjoyment and nature recovery;

8. Encouraging appropriate habitat management regimes that reflect the special characteristics of the District’s landscapes, such as heathlands, downland and woodlands ;

9. Conserving the best quality agricultural land and supporting initiatives that protect and retain soil quality, reduce the run-off of nutrients and pesticides into watercourses and groundwater, and encourage the uptake of incentive schemes to promote the recovery of nature as an investment in associated environmental benefits, such as the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS - including its local nature recovery and landscape recovery sub-schemes);

10. Ensuring adherence to national standards for air quality with appropriate and transparent monitoring;

11. Safeguarding mineral sites and ensuring that restoration and after-use is undertaken to improve their species richness and, where practical, secure public access;

12. Delivering a more extensive, resilient and connected network of natural capital assets.