Last October, my colleague Maidenbower councillor Kim Jaggard along with myself, brought forward a motion for a Full Council meeting of Crawley Borough Council. We shared public concerns about a proposal from Center Parcs for a huge holiday complex of 900 villas, restaurants and a swimming complex, across 553 acres of Worth Forest immediately to the south of Maidenbower, in the area known as Oldhouse Warren.
Our motion was seeking to get Crawley Borough Council to take a formal position of objecting to this proposal and to then write to both Center Parcs and Mid-Sussex District Council, setting out the concerns about such a change of use of this woodland site, and supporting the environmental concerns that have been highlighted by the Sussex Planning for Nature Group, which is made up of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust, CPRE Sussex and the Sussex Ornithological Society.
We have nothing against Center Parcs but felt that such a change of use on such a huge scale further erodes the natural environment surrounding our town, that has already been eroded through housing development and that is under further threat. There is a need for housing of course but this proposal wasn’t for housing and would actually place even further demands on the limited local housing available as many staff would move here. The jobs argument in favour didn’t stack up given we already have more vacancies in Crawley than people looking for work.
We were pleased to gain whole council support as well as that of our MP Henry Smith, who met onsite with concerned environmental groups. Our natural environment is precious and once it is lost to creeping urbanisation, it can never be the same. Woodland is a vital ecosystem and we take the view that our ancient woodlands must always be protected.
Center Parcs wrote back to us saying they would be carrying out further ecological studies of the site and that they would contact us again in the new year. I’m pleased to say that they contacted us last week to confirm they are withdrawing their plans.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
15th February 2023
