Exciting plans for new cycling hub and café on Leith Hill

Plans for a new cycling hub on one of the Leith Hill ascents in Surrey are set to get the green light this week.

The application is to convert a former poultry farm on Sheephouse Lane – one of the eight Leith Hill ascents – into a cycling café, an office for a cycle events business and a bike repair workshop.

Cycling holiday company Just Pedal is seeking planning permission from Mole Valley District Council to set up the cycling hub, which will be a welcome attraction to cyclists taking on the famous Surrey Hills.

Councillors are expected to approve the planning application on Wednesday (January 8), despite receiving seven objections over “noise pollution and litter due to potential increase in traffic.”

In a supporting statement submitted with the application, director and owner of Just Pedal, Robert Hawkins, said: “Just Pedal are still growing as a company and plan to move to larger premises on Coast Hill Farm in the heart of the Surrey Hills, the area where the company has been based since its creation.

“Here we plan to set-up a much needed ‘hub’ facility that benefits both the local community and visiting cycling community. The ‘hub’ will consist of our current event offices, a bicycle centre and a café. We will also provide much needed parking facilities for visiting cyclists.”

Just Pedal, founded in 2012 and based in nearby Albury, organises charity challenges and cycling trips throughout the UK and Europe.

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The new cycling hub would be located in the business park at Coast Hill Farm, Sheephouse Lane, one of the ascents included in the Leith Hill Octopus.

Despite the objections from some local residents, which include “strongly object on the basis of large groups of cyclists impeding traffic flow on the A25 and Sheephouse Lane”, council officers have recommended the planning application is approved.