With just two days to go before a consultation on plans to dig up part of the Epsom Downs closes, Epsom Racecourse has reassured residents their plans will not 'jeopardise' the Downs. An equestrian conservation group has savaged their plans to dig up part of Epsom Downs to level the racecourse and create a wildlife habitat for the threatened small blue butterfly.

Epsom Downs Racecourse submitted plans last year to flatten land at the Tattenham Straight using 'fill material' from the downs to reduce its costs when erecting a temporary derby marquee each year, and to demolish and flatten land at the old Lonsdale stand.

The downs are owned largely by the racecourse but what it does there is subject to approval by the Epsom and Walton Downs Conservators and the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984.

The racecourse insists that its proposals were drawn up after "comprehensive eclogical research" and that they will not jeopardise the ecology or mixed use of the downs. Last month the conservators gave them the thumbs up, a decision which the Epsom Equestrian Conservation Group (EECG) claim is against byelaws governed by the 1984 act. As part of the plans, fill material, will be sourced from three sites at Ashtead Park Garden Centre, an area off Langley Vale Road, and 1,500m from the foot of Walton Downs which the EECG fear will cause disruption and damage to the downs.

More than 100 20-tonne lorry loads are expected to travel from the foot of Walton Downs to Tattenham Corner Road down a narrow bridle way, currently used by walkers, riders and cyclists, for an estimated two-month period. Hugh Craddock, BHS bridleway officer for Epsom and Walton Downs said: “Our primary concern is the impact of 113 lorry loads driving across the foot of Walton Hill.

“If you are riding, walking or jogging down there what are you going to do when you meet a 20 tonne lorry?

“It’s a narrow track and it’s not wide enough to accommodate a lorry.

“At the meeting nobody even discussed that point.”

The EECG say the extraction of material from the downs goes against the spirit of the act which empowers them to make byelaws: “For preventing any digging or taking of stone, chalk, soil or other materials or the taking of turf, sods, trees, flowers, shrubs, plants or grass.”

Caroline Baldock, chair of the EECG said: “We are completely amazed that they want to do this when it is against the byelaws.

“We are going to lobby the planning committee.”

After material has been extracted from the downs, the land will be made ‘permanently unusable’ by horse riders and will be turned into a habitat for the small blue butterfly, which although they are spread across the UK, are few in number.

A spokesperson for the racecourse said: "We are only to aware of the sensitivities of the downs and the importance of its conservation and preservation; encompassing its wildlife, flora and fauna, its recreational use and as a training ground for the racehorse trainers in the area.

With this in mind, we have undertaken comprehensive ecological research and full consultation with the Downs Conservators - who have approved the applications - ahead of our application. Chalk will be removed from designated areas of the downs for this process however this would be done on advice from the conservators to maintain the soil type on the downs instead of bringing in new soil structures. We are sympathetic to all users of the downs and Epsom as a whole - we are very much part of the community and would not submit an application that would jeopardise the unique nature of this very special and sacred area of Epsom. We will continuously work with the conservators to find the best solution as this is an ongoing process."

A spokesperson for the conservators said: “The conservators were informed that both the racecourse and the Lower Mole Countryside Management Project had identified the proposed location for sourcing that fill material as being one which would benefit in terms of ecology if fill material was taken from it.

“This area therefore would help create a more ‘natural’ downs through the establishment of Kidney Vetch and thus a provision of a habitat for the small blue butterfly - not necessarily a ‘necessity’, but certainly a positive outcome for protecting the biodiversity of our environment.

“Frequent review meetings will be taking place between the racecourse and the conservators to ensure that all requirements are being complied with.”

No date for the work has currently been set with plans now subject to approval by planning officers and the leisure committee at Epsom and Ewell Council.

Anyone wishing to comment on the plans needs to do so by Friday, January 27 by emailing planningmailbox@epsom-ewell.gov.org, or in writing to Epsom Town Hall, The Parade, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 5BY.

FACT FILE: Small blue butterly- Cupido minimus • Britain’s smallest resident butterfly with a wing span that can be a little as 16mm.

• Colonies are isolated and it is only found in small pockets of sometimes less than 30 adults • Numbers have plummeted in recent years due to loss of chalk grassland habitats.

• It feeds on kidney vetch plants, which only grow on poor nutrient, alkaline soils.

• Despite its name it is not particularly blue as its wings are a dark smokey-brown.