CHOBHAM COMMON NNR - Surrey Wildlife Trust

and horse riders creating tracks then abandoning them for new routes as they gullied
and became impassable, causing wide scale erosion on the site. It is also reported
that during the 1950’s and 1960’s visitors regularly took vehicles onto the Common
further adding to the problem. An aerial photograph dated 1964 clearly shows severe
erosion problems on Tank Hill and Staple Hill. By the time the County Council
acquired the Common in 1968 there were nine car parks on the area covered by this
plan. Initially the Council wished to develop a country park but these plans were soon
dropped in favour of informal recreation and nature conservation. Erosion and
disturbance continued to be serious problems through the nineteen seventies and
eighties. By the late nineteen-eighties both walkers and riders were showing a
marked preference for the growing network of high quality fire tracks. In 1992 a
consultative process began to resolve long running conflicts of interest between
horse riders and other users, and to rationalise the rights of way networks in order to
meet the needs of visitors while protecting sensitive habitats and species. Following
a public enquiry in 1996 the present network of rights of way and agreed horse rides
which incorporates the fire track network was installed. Since then there have been
few serious erosion problems and disturbance has been greatly reduced.
Grazing was carried out using temporary fencing on five areas totalling 30 Ha
between 1994 and 2000, with excellent results. There were plans to carry out
extensive grazing on the Common, however the Secretary of State turned down an
application to fence the northern section of the Common following a public inquiry in
1998, as there were public concerns about permanent perimeter fencing and the
inspector felt other options for establishing grazing had not been fully explored.
There is a more detailed history of the Common in the 1998 Chobham Common
Management Plan.
1.6.4. Socio-economic use
The Common is managed for nature conservation and informal recreation. Local
shops, restaurants and public houses benefit from visitor use of the Common. Local
stables benefit from their use of the Common. Heather turves from the Common are
used by Queenwood Golf Course, who carry out works on the NNR in exchange for
material.
The Common has been used for filming since 1914. In the nineteen-fifties there was
a semi-permanent film set at Tank Hill and as late as 1979 ten film units used the site
in one year. Since the mid-nineteen-eighties filming has only been allowed where it
does not interfere with the enjoyment of the Common by visitors and where it can be
shown it will not damage the ecology or fabric of the site. At the time of writing the
Common is used two or three times a year for television dramas, adverts or minor
scenes for feature films.
The possibility of brash from scrub management being utilised at the Slough
Combined Heat and Power Station is currently being investigated.
Approximately twenty-five per cent of visitors to the Common come from the
surrounding villages. There is considerable local interest in the management of the
Common. From 1879 to 1968 the Common was managed by the Chobham Common
Preservation Committee, initially this was a committee elected by the Commoners to
protect their interest but as the number of active commoners declined it became a
committee of interested villagers. From 1968 until 1986 the Chobham Common
Preservation Committee assisted Surrey County Council “as a consultative body
rather than with any management responsibility” (Chobham Common Management
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