Role of the CCHT
The Cobham Conservation and Heritage Trust (CCHT) has no formal legal status as regards both the planning and conservation agenda. We are a voluntary body whose role is to influence decision makers as regards decisions that we feel best serve the interest of the local community in a sustainable manner.
CCHT is governed through the CCHT committee which meets broadly monthly, the membership of which is ratified annually through the annual general meeting of the CCHT membership. Detailed work is carried out through a sub committee and regular reports are made to the main committee for ratification of straightforward decisions and consideration of complex or high profile decisions.
Conservation
In relation to conservation the mandate of CCHT is to:
- Inform and educate the broader Cobham community regarding all conservation matters.
- To protect the interests of Cobham’s conservation interests and seek to enhance and develop these areas as appropriate.
- To work with broader conservation groups outside Cobham and to bring best practice back to the management of Cobham’s conservation.
- Work with the bodies that have a statutory duty to maintain and protect the Conservation Areas and ensure they fulfill their responsibilities.
- To supplement these statutory duties where they fall short of the standards that CCHT would wish to see in place.
In general terms CCHT will look to use volunteer resources to fulfill these responsibilities along with whatever additional resources can be obtained through statutory responsibilities or of other volunteer resources from other interested bodies.
From time to time, external professional help may be sought as specifically approved by the CCHT committee. We will work with other external bodies including those responsible for development and planning applications to attempt to proactively ensure that applications respect the principles of the CCHT. We will also work with other interest groups to publicise the interests of CCHT planning and conservation including the press.
