A NEW project is set to improve part of the Hog’s Back and transform a notorious ‘dogging’ hotspot into a wildlife area.
Puttenham Parish Council requested £3,500 from the borough council towards a scheme dubbed the Hog’s Back Wildlife Conservation Project. The proposal aims to provide a safe community area and encourage wildlife to re-establish.
At Guildford’s local committee meeting on Wednesday (March 21), members agreed Councillor Simon Gimson could spend part of his budget on the scheme.
Richard Griggs, member of Puttenham Parish Council, said the project was in its early stages.
“We are hoping to raise money to make sure we can do a worthwhile project,” he said.
“It will be in a region of the Hog’s Back where shrubbery and wildlife has been neglected.
“The parish council thought it a good idea to take the initiative to do something as the area has not been managed for years.
“It has been used by people locals would not want to circulate with,” Mr Griggs added.
The lay-by off the A31 on the Hog’s Back, near Puttenham, has been plagued with reports of inappropriate behaviour from groups of people meeting for sex.
Concern grew from walkers who stumbled upon the public sex site and found pornographic magazines, litter and underwear in the bushes.
Villagers said they had felt intimidated by the behaviour in the past as it was visible from Puttenham, and that they were scared to let their children play in nearby fields.
In 2010, Guildford MP Anne Milton visited the site and stated it was completely unacceptable to see people having sex outdoors.