Early Minute Books of the Society came to light in 2009, and seem worthy of recapping the early history of the Society. The Society was originally formed as the ‘Betchworth Society’, formed on 19 March 1957. The first 10 years show two lecture meetings a year, one of which was the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The published aim – ‘for the protection of the natural beauty of the countryside and the preservation of the character of Betchworth and its surroundings’ is practically unchanged, just fewer words! The subscription was 5 shillings (25p). The committee had a good peppering of honourable men: Commander EJV Hatch R.D R.N.R., Mr Compton Pearson OBE and Mr RN M Milton C.V.O. OBE.
Early activities included:
1958 Talk on ‘Surrey Amenity Council Aims’ by Mr LA Edwards at the Red Lion
1959 ‘A trip to India’ by Miss Pamela Bone (of the Committee)
1964 A tour of Betchworth House conducted by Major Gen. EH Goulburn DSC with an account of the history – at Betchworth House
1965 Problems of the A25 – Mr DH Cole, Church Room, Betchworth
1968 Two films (Loaned from the National Film Library): ‘Who cares for England and ‘Forest Heritate’ at Village Hall
1967 The M25 enquiry
1971 Gatwick anti-noise Executive
1971 Pylon Action Committee
At the AGM on 10 May 1972, the Society voted for the change of name to the ‘Betchworth & Buckland Society’. A this time, the Society had income of £131 and expenditure of £113. In 1973 (5th Dec), the Committee agreed that the minimum subscription remain at 25p, unchanged since 1957 – whilst noting ‘almost all members paid more than this voluntarily’. Inflation has hit us hard since then , but we still hope to offer value for money.
Over the years, the Society has been instrumental in a number struggles against developers and others to preserve the environment, the natural beauty and the lifestyle that we all enjoy in our villages.
The Society has evaluated practically every Planning Application submitted to the Local Authority, and where the Society considers that the application may detract from the aesthetics or structure of our villages, a representation to the Council has been made. This has meant that over the years, new housing has been limited, and that which has been developed is largely built in the local building style, and so the character of our villages remains intact.
Many who have lived in the villages for a long time will remember the powerful cases we have put forward to control activities at Betchworth Quarry and Tapwood Pit. This has been achieved through co-ordinating powerful ad-hoc action groups supported by professional advisors - including many local professionals who have provided their expert time voluntarily to support our cause. We, in Betchworth and Buckland, live in a very talented society and the experience of the Society when dealing with the problems at Betchworth Quarry was that there was a huge resource of talent within the village that was readily available to us.
In recent years, the Society has been increasingly involved with the protection of the village environment and quality of lifestyle. Recent support has been given to a new nursery facility for Acorns School and also for the floodlighting of St Mary's Buckland. The Society has been a ready supporter of commemorative events in the villages with both help and advice where requested and also with contributions towards costs, including both Jubilees.
As time goes on, the nature of the threats to our surroundings and lifestyle changes. Our Society is adopting to challenge these changes. One of the great strengths of the Society has been its knowledge of the local area and of the people that live in it.
The independent position of our Society can consider long-term, holistic and surrounding effects – especially if it affects our environment. The Capel incinerator, Gatwick runway extensions, M25 widening are just some examples of developments in our surrounding parishes that may affect our ‘quality of life’. Such perspectives may be supplementary or broader than the view of our Parish Councils.
Within our parishes, we face less immediate planning threats since, in 2001, the Mole Valley District Council has determined that no new housing should be built in Buckland, so there will be fewer such planning applications for the Society to consider. We are, however, now concerned with more environmental issues, traffic problems, protection of local services, air pollution, maintaining and restoring our landscape and access rights. Our ‘quality of life’ also involves protecting local shops, ensuring that schools, public transport, and policing standards are maintained. It is for these reasons that the Committee of the Society has revised the goals of the Society - as presented above.
The Betchworth & Buckland Society is not a Charity. The Committee give their time freely, and the funding helps support the award of grants to the community and expert advice, communication and publicity to support representations. Our funds come entirely from subscriptions and donations.