Activists slam Center Parcs over plans to build site on ancient woodland
Green charities are calling out Center Parcs over plans to build a £350m holiday resort at the heart of ancient Sussex woodland.
Under current proposals Center Parcs plans to cover some of the UK’s oldest woodland with a giant new complex including 900 lodges, a tropical swimming centre, restaurants, car parks and new roads which will cover an area the size of 350 football pitches.
Green charities and environmental experts have warned that the plans will demolish irreplaceable ancient woodlands, destroying habitats and disturbing wildlife which will lead to species loss.
In a joint statement penned by the Woodland Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust, CPRE Sussex, Sussex Ornithological Society and RSPB the group wrote: “the inevitable loss of habitat would make a mockery of the Government’s commitments to address climate change and its manifesto pledge to expand the acreage of protected landscapes and to plant 30,000 hectares of new trees by 2024.”
The charities called on the government to make good on its promises to protect the environment and slow climate change by blocking the plans.
Activists say
Jenny Scholfield the South East lead for Woodland Trust said, “this development could also open the floodgates for damage to ancient woodlands elsewhere.”
Schofield said opposition to the plans was “non-negotiable.”
“Put simply, Center Parcs needs to find a different location for its site,” she continued.
Henri Brocklebank, director of conservation research for the Sussex Wildlife Trust commented, “allowing Center Parcs to create a new site here goes against all the relevant local policies and plans, not least the Government’s own commitment to protect 30 per cent of UK land by 2030.”
Brocklebank added that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet with one in seven species at risk of extinction and 58 per cent of species in decline.
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