Firstly, thank you to everyone who attended our recent Community Open Evening regarding the future of the Big Field.

The purpose of the evening was to openly share the challenges currently facing the site, provide historical and factual context, outline potential future opportunities, and begin a constructive conversation with the wider Dorking community about how the Big Field can continue to serve future generations.

As discussed during the evening, the historical information surrounding the acquisition of the land is important. The land was purchased through funds gifted to the National Trust for the benefit of the community, with the intention of preserving the views from Box Hill whilst allowing the land to continue to be used for recreation and sport, specifically including athletics and rugby football.

However, it is also important to recognise that the original agreement relating to the Big Field was reached almost 60 years ago, and society, sport, technology, and community needs have changed significantly during that time.

Today, community sport faces very different challenges. Climate change and increasingly difficult winter conditions place growing pressure on natural grass playing surfaces. Participation across multiple sports continues to increase, whilst wider issues such as physical inactivity, childhood obesity, mental health, equality, inclusivity, and access to girls’ and women’s sport are now far more significant considerations than they were decades ago.

Technology and environmental design have also advanced considerably. Modern floodlighting systems are now far more controlled and energy efficient, with reduced light spill and the ability to focus lighting within defined areas. Opportunities also exist to improve sustainability and biodiversity through measures such as solar energy, improved drainage, water collection and irrigation systems, and more environmentally conscious landscaping approaches.

Our objective is not to urbanise or overdevelop the Big Field. Equally, doing nothing is not without consequence. Without long-term planning and investment, pressures on playing surfaces, parking, traffic management, and local sporting provision will continue to increase.

The concepts shared during the evening are therefore intended to explore how the site could be responsibly future proofed whilst continuing to protect the openness, character, and wider community value of the Big Field.

This includes consideration of:

• Improved year-round sporting and recreational provision
• Better Sustainability and resilliance of facility
• Opportunities for wider Community Participation
• Improved Traffic flow and parking management
• Environmental and biodiversity improvements
• Multi-Sport recreational opportunities for the Wider community
• Site accessibility all year round

As part of this thinking, we are also exploring whether future court provision could support broader community use through flexible multi-sport recreational facilities, helping encouraging wider participation, accessibility and community engagement

Importantly, this is not about commercial overdevelopment or creating a profit-driven scheme. The primary objective is to ensure The Big Field continues to serve the wider community for sport, recreation, health, wellbeing and community engagement for many years to come.

We also want to emphasise that we remain in a listening and engagement phase. No final plans have been agreed, and constructive community feedback will play an important role in helping shape any future proposals.

As part of this process, we have attached:

• A copy of the Presentation shared on the 1st community evening

• Historical information relating to the acquisition of the land

• A community feedback form for residents and users of The Big Field

We would encourage residents, users and members of the wider Dorking community to review the information provided and contribute to the discussion through the attached feedback form.

Thank you again for taking the time to engage with us. We remain committed to continuing discussions openly, respectfully and factually as this process moves forward.