Oldhouse Warren and Center Parcs update

admin
, 20 December 2021
Oldhouse Warren and Center Parcs update
Firecrest © David Tipling/2020VISION

By Jess Price

Conservation Officer

A big thank you to everyone who contacted Center Parcs and the various local decision-makers (MPs and Councillors) to highlight that Oldhouse Warren is the wrong place to build a new holiday village. We know many of you have made contact and we have seen some of the replies you have been receiving. You have all done a fantastic job of raising awareness of this issue, which has also gained some excellent press coverage.

Center Parcs haven’t responded to us directly, but they did produce a statement in reply to requests from journalists – and it is disappointing. The statement said that Center Parcs are conducting ecological surveys to inform their designs and that they take their responsibility to the environment very seriously. It also said that they have more than 30 years’ experience of sensitively managing the woodlands within their villages.

The frustrating thing is that we know what the ecological surveys will say – that Oldhouse Warren is ancient woodland, is adjacent to a SSSI and sits in the High Weald AONB. Such a sensitive site is not suitable for development of any kind, and a holiday village is a substantial development. It may be possible to build a wooden cabin or two sensitively, but what about 900 of them? What about the car parks and internal roads, the concrete paths and village centres with restaurants and shops? Not to mention the huge amount of soil excavation needed to build one of Center Parcs’ famous tidal swimming pools, along with all the gas, electricity and water cables and pipes running across the site? And then all the cars driving onto it with holiday-goers?

A development of this scale is simply incompatible with ancient woodland, especially when you consider the impact it would have on the site’s all-important soil. This is what really makes ancient woodlands irreplaceable: soil is the foundation of an ancient woodland, the base from which all else grows and thrives. These soils have taken centuries or millennia to form, and their relative lack of disturbance over hundreds of years means they are especially complex and diverse, and rich in carbon. Even though some of the native trees have been replaced with conifers at Oldhouse Warren, the site still retains much of its historic soil communities, networks and ecological interactions that would have been lost if the land had been anything else but wooded for hundreds of years. This should be protected and restored – but a sprawling holiday village would do just the opposite.

The Sussex Wildlife Trust and our partners in the campaign will continue to raise awareness of this issue with politicians and the public. We will continue to lobby Center Parcs to choose an alternative location. And if a planning application is submitted for Oldhouse Warren, we will let everyone know and help you all object in as simple and effective a way as possible.

Visit our webpage for more information on the proposal, including our list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Stephen Leary:

    Hi Jess, thanks for the update. I don’t know whether it was an oversite, but you forgot to mention that outdoor water pools and streams plus a lake of at least 2 acres are also features of Centre Parc sites which means sacrificing even more of the ancient woodland

    20 Dec 2021 16:35:00

  • Clare Baker:

    Please let’s crowdfund to buy this land. It’s the only way to secure it for the global commons. Is that an option right now?

    Reply

    We understand why people would like us to buy the land, but at this time it is not up for sale. Even if it was, the average cost of woodland in this part of the country is about £10,000 per acre, so at 550 acres, we would estimate Oldhouse Warren costing about £5.5 million! As charities we have to think carefully about any acquisitions, not least because of the long-term costs of managing sites for wildlife and people. We also think it is a sad indictment of planning controls if charities have to buy land to protect it from unsuitable development, when the planning legislation and policy is meant to be there to ensure only sustainable development occurs. Ancient Woodland and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are very highly protected under national policy. This should be enough for Center Parcs and the landowners to realise that this is the wrong place for their development, without a charity having to step in.

    21 Dec 2021 17:20:00

  • Colin Upton:

    Thanks for the update, this is one battle that we must win. Please do all you can to keep this in the public eye. Sadly there are many people that will support this sort of development.

    25 Dec 2021 18:44:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783033646.8440 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783033646.87050.0265Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783033646.87070.0001Server address: 216.73.217.131
1783033646.87070Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783033646.87070Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update
    [s] => oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update
    [1] => oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update
)
1783033646.8710.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033646.87210.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783033646.8740.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783033646.87480.0008INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783033646.87640.0016 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22542112
1783033646.87690.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22542112
1783033646.87750.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-02 23:07:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-02 23:07:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783033646.87880.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 23:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783033646.88170.0029 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783033646.88250.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2690 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 23:07:00'
1783033646.88360.0011 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783033646.88460.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783033646.88540.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=118 LIMIT 1
1783033646.88610.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=247 LIMIT 1
1783033646.88650.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=32 LIMIT 1
1783033646.88710.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783033646.88740.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783033646.88830.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 23:07:00' AND postSlug='oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update'
1783033646.90850.0202Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783033646.9090.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783033646.91060.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783033646.91080.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783033646.91170.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783033646.91290.0013 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783033646.91580.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033646.91630.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783033646.91810.0018Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783033646.91820 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.91890.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.91940.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.92180.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.92240.0006 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.92280.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783033646.92550.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033646.92630.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783033646.92850.0021 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783033646.9290.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783033646.92930.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783033646.93010.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783033646.93050.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='oldhouse-warren-and-center-parcs-update')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 23:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783033646.93250.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783033646.9330.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783033646.93660.0037Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783033646.93770.001 [3] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2690 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783033646.99010.0524 [3] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783033646.99110.001Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783033646.99120.0001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99190.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99250.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99310.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783033646.99520.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99570.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783033646.99750.0018 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783033646.99850.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99910.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783033646.99960.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783033647.00190.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033647.00250.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783033647.00440.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783033647.00770.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783033647.00840.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783033647.00890.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783033647.01110.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033647.01150.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783033647.01330.0018 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783033647.01550.0022 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783033647.01610.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783033647.01640.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783033647.01850.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783033647.01890.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783033647.02080.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783033647.02250.0017Request time: 0.1805
1783033647.02250Process time: 0.1804
1783033647.02250Memory: 1.6564