At last week’s Full Council meeting at Crawley Brough Council, I was pleased to play a part in the bringing forward of a motion by the Conservative group, for the council to make a stand, by opposing plans to create a Center Parcs holiday complex on 553 acres of woodland, immediately to the south of Crawley.  Our motion was put together and proposed by Maidenbower Councillor Kim Jaggard, and I was delighted to be the seconder.

My colleagues and I are concerned about the loss of countryside surrounding Crawley, with the prospect of much more being lost, due to Homes England’s plan for new neighbourhoods to the west of Ifield, for which last year, we brought forward a motion for the council to oppose.

The land at Worth Forest, known as Oldhouse Warren, is the other side of the motorway from Maidenbower, with much of it being ancient woodland. This is a significant part of the largest remaining forested area in West Sussex.  Even with the best will in the world, it is impossible to construct a holiday complex of 900 lodges, restaurants, other facilities and car parking in woodland, without having a major environmental impact.

At the meeting, I also made the arguments about the influx of people that would need to move into the Crawley area in order to help provide the 1,000+ staff that would be needed to work there.  With very low unemployment locally, there is no way that existing residents living in Crawley and nearby, could provide the needed workforce.  The result would be even more pressure on local housing, noting that it’s already difficult to find homes to rent at affordable prices.          

We are delighted that our motion found unanimous cross-party support and that now, the council will be writing to both Mid-Sussex District Council and Center Parcs, to state our opposition and to set out our concerns.  We share the environmental concerns that have already been expressed by the Planning for Nature Group, that’s made up of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust, CPRE Sussex and the Sussex Ornithological Society.  

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

24th October 2022