Surrey Heath | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Festina diligenter (Latin: Make haste carefully) | |
 Surrey Heath shown within Surrey | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | South East England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Surrey |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district |
| Admin HQ | Camberley |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | Surrey Heath Borough Council |
| • MPs | Al Pinkerton (Lib Dem) |
| Area | |
• Total | 36.7 sq mi (95.1 km2) |
| • Rank | 202nd(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 94,492 |
| • Rank | 260th(of 296) |
| • Density | 2,570/sq mi (994/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 43UJ (ONS) E07000214 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | SU8752760851 |
Surrey Heath is alocal government district withborough status inSurrey, England. Its council is based inCamberley. Much of the area is within theMetropolitan Green Belt.
The neighbouring districts areRunnymede,Woking,Guildford,Rushmoor,Hart,Bracknell Forest, andWindsor and Maidenhead.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named "Surrey Heath" in recognition of the extensive areas ofheathland it contains, includingChobham Common andLightwater Country Park, which form part of the widerThames Basin Heaths.[3] The new district was grantedborough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[4]
In April 2025, Surrey Heath became home to theoldest living person,Ethel Caterham, aSupercentenarian aged 116 years, 98 days old, after previous oldest living personInah Canabarro Lucas died at the age of 116. Caterham has lived in aLightwater care home since 2020, and in celebration for her 116th birthday was visited on 18 September 2025 byCharles III. Caterham is the last known surviving individual born in the1900s decade.[5][6][7][8]
Surrey Heath Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Nick Steevens since 1 July 2024[11] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 35 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
First election | 7 June 1973 |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Surrey Heath House, Knoll Road,Camberley, GU15 3HD | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Surrey Heath Borough Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided bySurrey County Council. The eastern part of the borough is also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[12]
Since the2023 election the council has been underLiberal Democrat majority control. Prior to 2023 the council had been led byConservatives from its creation in 1974.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–2020 | |
| No overall control | 2020–2021 | |
| Conservative | 2021–2022 | |
| No overall control | 2022–2023 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2023–present | |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Surrey Heath. Political leadership is instead provided by theleader of the council. The leaders since 1994 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vivienne Chapman[14] | Conservative | 1994 | 1998 | |
| Moira Gibson[15][16] | Conservative | 27 May 1998 | 26 Feb 2019 | |
| Richard Brooks[17][18] | Conservative | 27 Feb 2019 | 20 Jan 2020 | |
| Alan McClafferty[19][20] | Conservative | 29 Jan 2020 | May 2023 | |
| David Whitcroft[21][22] | Liberal Democrats | 17 May 2023 | 28 Jun 2023 | |
| Shaun Macdonald[22] | Liberal Democrats | 28 Jun 2023 | ||
Following the2023 election (including a postponed election in one ward) and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:[23]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 24 | |
| Conservative | 6 | |
| Independent | 3 | |
| Labour | 2 | |
| Total | 35 | |
The three independent councillors sit together as "The Community Group".[24] The next election is due in 2027.[23]
The council is based at Surrey Heath House on Knoll Road in Camberley. The building was purpose-built for the council for £4.25m and was completed in 1987. The building was formally opened byValerian Wellesley, Duke of Wellington on 17 July 1987.[25]
In 2016 the council bought The Square, the main shopping centre in the centre of Camberley, for £109 million.[26] By early 2023 the centre was reportedly valued at only £30 million, and the rents being received did not cover the interest payments on the debts the council had incurred in buying it.[27]
In 2020 the council's chief executive, Karen Whelan, resigned after an independent investigation found that a 30% increase in her remuneration during 2018–19 compared to the year before had been unlawfully approved by the former leader of the council, Moira Gibson.[28][29][30]
The area forms the heart of the heath that spansEsher,Oxshott,Weybridge,Wisley, all aroundWoking,Brookwood,Deepcut,Pirbright,Frimley,Lightwater,Camberley,Chobham Common,Virginia Water andOttershaw. It is made up of naturally wet, very acid sandy and loamy soil, which is just 1.9% of English soil and 0.2% of Welsh soil, which gives rise topines andconiferous landscapes, such as pioneered atWentworth and Foxhills estate (now spa, hotel, restaurant and golf club) by pro-American independence statesmanCharles James Fox.[31] In geology it gives rise to the name,Bagshot Formation.
The western section of the district is largely urbanised, with heaths nonetheless providing substantial greenbuffer aroundCamberley,Lightwater,Deepcut,Frimley,Frimley Green andMytchett. The east of the district is less urbanized, and contains Surrey Heath's four civil parishes:[32]
The former Frimley and Camberley Urban District covering the west of the borough is anunparished area, governed directly by Surrey Heath Borough Council.[33]
Within theborough there are fiveSites of Special Scientific Interest, four of which are part of the Thames BasinHeaths Special Protection Area of European Importance as ahabitat for certain endangered bird species; these make up some of the sixWildlife Reserves managed bySurrey Wildlife Trust in Surrey Heath.
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 35Councillors representing 14wards, with each ward electing two or three Councillors. Elections are held every four years.[34]
The whole borough lies within theSurrey Heath constituency. The constituency is slightly larger than the borough, including theNormandy andPirbright ward ofGuildford Borough Council.[33]
In 2014, the British Election Study named Surrey Heath as the mostright-wing constituency in the country.[35]
Surrey Heath is twinned withSucy-en-Brie, France, andBietigheim-Bissingen, Germany.[49]
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Places listed are articles or sectionsnotable as settlements, arranged bypost town Camberley is the administrative centre and largest single settlement | ||||||||||||||||
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51°20′22″N0°44′36″W / 51.3395°N 0.7433°W /51.3395; -0.7433
