{"id":29531,"date":"2026-03-31T14:26:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29531"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:34:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:34:36","slug":"rnli-and-macmillan-charities-maximise-assets-at-cost-to-nature-and-local-communities-another-fine-eton-mess","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29531","title":{"rendered":"RNLI and Macmillan Charities Maximise Assets at cost to Nature and Local Communities: Another Fine (Eton) Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Think before you donate!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29546 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/East-Chiltington-sign-to-church-scaled-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"373\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/East-Chiltington-sign-to-church-scaled-1.png 373w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/East-Chiltington-sign-to-church-scaled-1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 373px) 85vw, 373px\" \/>The RNLI and Macmillan charities, amongst others, are maximising their assets by instructing Welbeck Land developers to use their skills and muscle to obtain consent to build on land bequeathed or bought.<\/p>\n<p>This may be a shrewd financial move for the charities, but with property developers now the largest lobbying body in Parliament since the discrediting of the Tobacco Industry, it looks as if a different type of cancer is spreading through the lungs of our country.<\/p>\n<p>Eton College has been working with Welbeck Land to seek permission to build a new town of 3,250 houses at East Chiltington, a tiny village near Lewes in Sussex.\u00a0 North Barnes Farm was bought speculatively in the 1990s and profits of over \u00a3120 million are anticipated if the scheme goes ahead.<\/p>\n<p>The RNLI and Macmillan, along with three other charities, were bequeathed land near Warlingham, Surrey, and have also instructed Welbeck Land to work for them to obtain planning consents.<\/p>\n<p>The nature-loving Surrey land donors must be turning in their graves.<\/p>\n<p>In Surrey, a planning application to build 122 units has been submitted through Welbeck Land to Tandridge District Council.\u00a0 The units comprise 50 dwellings and a care home with 72 beds.\u00a0 These are to be built on a green field site, currently paddocks and woodland, with low light pollution.\u00a0 The landscape is designated \u2018of high visual worth\u2019 by the County Council, while the Kennel Farm Field area is designated an Area of Great Landscape Value (\u2018AGLV\u2019).\u00a0 A care home set on the ridge, with its glaring 24-hour lighting, is hardly likely to enhance that view.<\/p>\n<p>With Kennel Farm Field being partly \u2018protected\u2019 by planned conversion to a \u2018biodiversity linear park\u2019, Welbeck Land has confirmed that the charities intend to develop the rest of the field with, potentially, up to 760 additional houses.\u00a0 What view?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erosion of the Green Belt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-29406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/we-are-building-over-the-pastures.1.jpg\" alt=\"(we are building over) the pastures sign on new building site built where pastures once stood\" width=\"1200\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/we-are-building-over-the-pastures.1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/we-are-building-over-the-pastures.1-300x70.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/we-are-building-over-the-pastures.1-768x179.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/>This very beautiful landscape is currently part of London\u2019s \u2018Green Belt\u2019, wisely designed to preserve separate communities against predicted urban sprawl.\u00a0 In addition, the green belt provides a habitat for increasingly threatened wildlife.\u00a0 At Warlingham, this includes the skylark, currently a Species of Principal Importance that has declined in numbers so significantly that it is registered as a \u2018red category species\u2019 for Birds of Conservation Concern.<\/p>\n<p>Welbeck Land has claimed that the North Barnes Farm Site at East Chiltington, which is reached by single track roads and also has very low light pollution, has minimal wildlife of interest.\u00a0 This claim is angrily rebutted by locals who point out not only the existence of numerous rare species but also that the Bevern Stream, a rare spawning ground for sea trout, is already a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.\u00a0 It is hardly likely to benefit from becoming a building site.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Eton College, the RNLI and Macmillan are all very wealthy charities.\u00a0\u00a0 In 2024 (the most recent figures currently available to the author), Macmillan\u2019s income was over \u00a3245 million.\u00a0 As at 31 December 2024 the RNLI had net assets of \u00a3816.5m, an increase from the \u00a3796.3 million net assets in 2023.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Environmental Credentials???<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even more ironically, even hypocritically, the RNLI and Macmillan both vaunt noble environmental credentials.<\/p>\n<p>The RNLI\u2019s online &#8216;Protecting Habitats Policy&#8217; states that: \u201cAs both landowners and tenants, we strive to ensure we manage and maintain the land we occupy \u2026 we respect and adhere to conservation designations such as Sites or Areas of Special Scientific Interest (\u201cSSSI or ASSI\u201d) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (\u201cAONB\u201d), ensuring we do not damage or interfere with the eco systems, habitats and species of flora and fauna around us \u2013 both on land and in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Macmillan\u2019s website claims \u201cWe are committed to reducing our environmental impact&#8230; we are deepening our understanding of our environmental performance and are actively taking actions to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gemma Peters, CEO of Macmillan, states on the website that \u2018<strong>At Macmillan, we will do whatever it takes\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 A worthy aim, but in the light of these planning applications, it seems more like \u2018whatever it takes <strong>to make money<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>At what cost to desolate local people and to the natural environment that provides medically recognised benefits to our mental health?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think before you donate! The RNLI and Macmillan charities, amongst others, are maximising their assets by instructing Welbeck Land developers to use their skills and muscle to obtain consent to build on land bequeathed or bought. This may be a shrewd financial move for the charities, but with property developers now the largest lobbying body &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29531\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;RNLI and Macmillan Charities Maximise Assets at cost to Nature and Local Communities: Another Fine (Eton) Mess&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-29531","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RNLI and Macmillan Charities Maximise Assets at cost to Nature and Local Communities: Another Fine (Eton) Mess - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=29531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RNLI and Macmillan Charities Maximise Assets at cost to Nature and Local Communities: Another Fine (Eton) Mess - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Think before you donate! The RNLI and Macmillan charities, amongst others, are maximising their assets by instructing Welbeck Land developers to use their skills and muscle to obtain consent to build on land bequeathed or bought. 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