Volunteers launch campaign to save Hastings woodland from development

Councillors will be deciding which sites should remain under consideration before the plan is published on August 10.

Gladman Developments Ltd has made a bid to build 65 homes on the Greenfield site on the Ridge, close to St Helen’s Woods.

The St Helens Park Preservation Society, working with Save Sandrock Bends, Standing Up for Nature and CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England), says development at Sandrock Bends would pose a serious threat to the neighbouring St Helen's Woods Local Nature Reserve – one of Hastings' most important natural habitats.

Most of the 106-acre woodland was gifted by Isabel Blackman in the 1950s and is now managed by the society. Campaigners argue that housing on the adjacent Sandrock bends site could have impact on wildlife, hydrology and the long-term health of the protected woodland.

Sandrock Bends is believed to act as a giant natural ‘sponge’ on The Ridge, they say. Its underground clay and sandstone structures and dense vegetation capture rainwater, slowly filtering it downward to feed the natural springs that sustain St Helen’s Woods.

Conservationists claim this steady, year-round water supply is the lifeblood of fragile, rare wet woodland and meadow habitat in the nature reserve. Wet woodlands - characterised by waterlogged soils and specialised trees like alder and willow - are rare ecosystems that support mosses, fungi, and insect populations found nowhere else in the borough, says the society.

Environmentalists warn that scraping away this natural sponge to lay concrete foundations will permanently disrupt or completely sever these spring lines. Without this constant hydrological feed, the rare wet woodlands and meadows face irreversible drying, they say. Stripping the reserve of its core water supply will leave the ancient woodland highly vulnerable, eliminating its natural resilience against severe summer droughts and the wider pressures of climate change, they argue.

A St Helen's Park Preservation Society spokesperson said: "Allowing development on this land would not only be unwise, it would be irresponsible. St Helen's Woods is an irreplaceable part of Hastings' natural heritage, and once the damage is done it cannot be undone."

Campaigners also argue that development would add to congestion on The Ridge, increase pressure on local services, and make access to the Conquest Hospital more difficult.

The spokesperson added: "Local people have made their views abundantly clear. We are asking councillors to listen to residents, consider the expert evidence, and remove Sandrock Bends from the Local Plan to protect one of Hastings' most valuable natural assets for future generations."