Sussex woodland 'utterly unsuitable' for new Center Parcs holiday complex

Center Parcs revealed last October that it had secured an option to acquire 553-acres of privately owned woodland at Oldhouse Warren off Balcombe Road, Worth.

And the company said it would be seeking planning permission to build 900 lodges, a range of indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, a ‘Subtropical Swimming Paradise’, a variety of restaurants and shops and a spa.

But Dave Bangs – a member of the groups 'Protect Oldhouse Warren' and 'Landscapes of Freedom' – is calling for the area to be made a ‘people’s forest’ such as Epping Forest or the New Forest.

"It should be open and free to us all,” he said.

He said the wild countryside and ancient woodland at Oldhouse Warren was "utterly unsuited to big visitor attractions.”

And, he added: “Oldhouse Warren is a place of peace and delight, and home to rare and beautiful wildlife.

“Ravens and owls, Goshawks, Hobby falcons and even rarer raptors, need its wildness and spreading size for their hunting.

"Tiny birds like Firecrest and the endangered Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, dainty Redstart, Willow Warbler, Marsh Tit, Hawfinch and Spotted Flycatchers need its varied and ancient habitats to survive.

“Its ground nesting birds, like Woodcock and Nightjar, have some of their last Sussex refuges here in these forests.

"They need places where we will leave them in peace.

“Oldhouse Warren has one of the largest clusters of ancient trees in Worth and St Leonard's Forests, and those forests have more than anywhere else in Sussex.

“The gnarled old veteran Oaks, Beeches and occasional Yew trees are survivors of the wildwood, before humans cleared and changed it so profoundly.

“They are scattered through the blocks of conifers.

"Despite their antiquity, they are untended, cramped and struggling to survive under the shade of crowding conifers planted right up to them.

"Many of them are dying. Many have died.

“This wonderful heritage of ancient trees is unloved, unknown and ignored.”

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He added: "Golden Ringed Dragonflies - the biggest in Britain - and the rare Brilliant Emerald Damselfly survive in the shady jungles of its hidden valley streams and open water …

“Fierce-looking Green Tiger Beetles, iridescent Dumble Dor beetles, and Sabre Wasps as big as a child's hand survive there. All are harmless. All are beautiful.

“As summer dusk falls, bats flit on all sides amongst the trees, from giant Serotines hunting low above our heads, to weeny Pipistrelles circling the glades and rides.

“Oldhouse Warren could be a fantastic public place.

“It should be ours to enjoy for FREE, not lost to an expensive holiday new town of buildings, plazas, and apartments, bonkers roads, massive new car movements, pollutions, massive energy use, and consumerism – all ratchetting up climate change.”

Center Parcs, which said last October that it hoped to apply for planning permission this summer, has been asked for an update on its plans.