West Surrey

For the parliamentary constituency, see West Surrey (UK Parliament constituency).

West Surrey
Future unitary authority area and borough
Guildford and its cathedral
West Surrey (1) shown within Surrey
Coordinates: 51°14′46″N0°33′07″W / 51.246°N 0.552°W / 51.246; -0.552
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	South East
Ceremonial county	Surrey
Historic county	Surrey Middlesex (part)
Incorporated	1 April 2027
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	West Surrey Council
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)

West Surrey will be a unitary authority area scheduled to be created in Surrey, England by summer 2027. It covers a western half of the county of Surrey, including the county town of Guildford. It will replace Surrey County Council and six district councils, most of which had borough status and branding, from north to south: Spelthorne, Runnymede, Surrey Heath, Woking, Guildford, and Waverley.

History

Since local government reorganisation in 1974, the area of West Surrey has had local public services mainly delivered by a two-tier system consisting of Surrey County Council and six district councils.

Following public consultation, creation of West Surrey and West Surrey Council in about April 2027 was announced by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in October 2025. He announced that Surrey County Council and its eleven district councils would be abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities. Reed said the reasoning for the local government reorganisation was to better the financial sustainability of Surrey's local authorities and to improve public service delivery. ^[1]

Politics

The governing body for West Surrey will be West Surrey Council, which is due to be established in 2027. ^[2] The first councillors will be elected in the 2026 West Surrey Council election. ^[2]

Geography

West Surrey is a western half of the county of Surrey, a ceremonial and historic in south-eastern England, which is also a rump county having ceded about 1⁄3 of its land to help create the county of Greater London, including prior contributions to the smaller, abolished County of London. As in certain other industrialised nations, new towns were centrally planned and delivered outside of the capital city, ^[3] and what remained of Surrey – today's Surrey – benefitted from greenfield (and to an extent brownfield) development protections, after a 14-year gradual, consultative roll out of the Green Belt Act 1938.

Natural England classifies England into distinct National Character Areas, each defined by landscape, biodiversity and cultural attributes. The southeasternmost portion of West Surrey lies within the Low Weald (NCA 121), transitioning northward to Weald Grassland (NCA 120), followed by a narrow band of the North Downs (NCA 119). Much but not all of these areas fall within the Surrey Hills National Landscape (or AONB). ^[4] North of the Downs is the Thames Basin, including the Thames Basin Lowlands (NCA 114) around Guildford and the Thames Basin Heaths (NCA 129) further north. Finally, about a dozen settlements, the northernmost, including Staines and Chertsey, are within the Thames Valley (NCA 115). ^[5]

See also

• East Surrey

References

1. Caulfield, Chris (28 October 2025). "Surrey to be split in two in council reorganisation". BBC News. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
2. "Surrey residents to benefit from improved public services". gov.uk. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
3. Paris et le désert français, 1947
4. "Surrey Hills National Landscape (AONB) Variation Project Second Consultation - Defra - Citizen Space". consult.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
5. "Maps of Surrey showing different geology and character aspects" (PDF). Surrey County Council. Retrieved 1 November 2024.