Cowslips, Cherkley Court

Image: © Ian Capper Taken: 6 May 2013

Each spring, the Northern Parkland at Cherkley Court is covered with Cowslips. However, in 2013 the whole area has been desecrated by work starting on an exclusive golf course on the estate, which was narrowly passed for planning in spring 2012 by Mole Valley District Council, despite a recommendation for refusal by the Council's own planning officers given that the application went against the Council's own planning policy. Although the decision is now subject to a judicial review, and work has stopped on the more environmentally sensitive parts of the estate, the application of herbicide of parts of the Northern Parkland has been allowed to continue, as part of the so called enhancement of the landscape that the developers suggest a golf course will bring. So far this section has survived, with the Cowslips flowering in profusion, but the red flags to the left of the photo indicate that work is planned here - see Image for a section furhter north where work has already started, and the resulting damage.

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