Hastings Borough Council is at it again!
Following last year’s battle with conservation groups and local residents over the Hastings-Bexhill bypass it appears that yet again the council are oblivious to environmental concerns.
A planning application for new residential properties adjacent to two Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands has been approved, even though it will potentially cut a swathe through a strip of one of the woodland sites – Robsack Wood – something which had been planned as far back as 2004.
Robsack Wood had previously been designated as a Local Nature Reserve, which is done so when a site has intrinsic value to both wildlife and the public. The whole LNR site is renowned for invertebrates and wildflowers, not to mention protected species such as bats. The bats are likely to forage along the edge of the woodland – right next to the area identified for development.
This strip of irreplaceable ancient woodland was deliberately left out of the reserve to ensure that development potential of the adjacent site was safeguarded, allowing access onto the main road - an apparently premeditated act of woodland desecration. A local resident who contacted the council directly to question this was told that this was an intentional action, showing scant regard for the environment yet again.
As a result residents and decision makers will have been under the impression that the entire woodland was safe from development through the LNR designation. It has only come to light that an area of woodland had been left out of the LNR designation deliberately to allow development, after outline permission was granted.
Furthermore during lengthy email conversations between the local resident and council workers it became apparent that not all council staff involved in the plans were aware that the area in question had been missed out of the reserve. It was also requested that any planning application which encroaches onto protected woodland should lead to consultation with the Woodland Trust and other appropriate bodies prior to submission.
The Woodland Trust was sadly informed of the situation too late in the day to oppose the planning application, Alice Farr from the Trust commented: “Environmentally important sites are often designated nature reserves to help protect them from development. Deliberately leaving out areas to safeguard development undermines the protection offered and leaves wildlife helpless against urban expansion.”
This comes on the back of previous research from the Trust which shows that 273 ancient woodlands covering 22 square miles (5740 hectares) in the South East have been under threat from destruction or degradation in the last decade. This figure includes over 40 across the whole of Sussex itself.
Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, email: media@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
Ancient Woodland: Is land continuously wooded for at least 400 years (and often much longer) and is one of the great glories of our natural heritage. Ancient woods are the UK’s equivalent of Rainforest, our richest habitat for wildlife, home to more rare and threatened species than any other UK habitat. They are places of inordinate beauty, reservoirs of evidence for environmental change, archaeology and economic history, and a source of inspiration for local culture and folklore. Our resource of ancient woodland is finite and cannot increase, so what remains is precious and irreplaceable.