Increasing concerns over plans for £350million Center Parcs holiday village in Sussex

Center Parcs wants to build up to 900 lodges, a range of indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, a ‘subtropical swimming pool’, a variety of restaurants, shops and a spa on 553 acres of privately-owned woodland at Oldhouse Warren off Balcombe Road, Worth.

But a number of objections are being raised over the proposals. The campaign group Protect Oldhouse Warren – POW – says: “This development would rip the heart out of Worth Forest.”

The group is now planning to hold a drop-in event in Turners Hill on Saturday (February 11) to raise awareness over the proposed development.

They say that building a new Center Parcs “would drive out rare species which need intact blocks of ancient woodland to survive. Some species are extremely special and very vulnerable.

"Many go back millennia to the time of the temperate rainforest some 7,000 years ago.”

POW group chairman Debra Mallard said: “We are asking Center Parcs to find an alternative, much more sustainable site where families can come to spend time together.

"Oldhouse Warren is not the right place. We invite our friends and neighbours to come together to send this message very loudly.”

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Crawley Borough Council and Crawley MP Henry Smith have already publicly opposed Center Parcs' proposals. And organisations including the Woodland Trust, CPRE Sussex, the RSPB, Sussex Wildlife Trust, and Sussex Ornithological Society have also voiced objections.

POW is holding an information session at St Leonard’s Church Hall, Turners Hill, on Saturday February 11 between 10am and 1pm and says all are welcome.