Friends of Speckled Wood Management Trust

Friends of Speckled Wood Management Trust The Friends of Speckled Wood Management Trust is a HMRC Registered Charity, who looks after Speckled Wood. Email: [email protected] FOSWMT
1.

Leading the campaign to re-designated Speckled Wood as a protected LNR.
2. Acquiring land in Speckled Wood for establishing a Local Nature Reserve.
3. Clearing footpaths and the stream, removing rubbish and carrying out conservation work to improve the woodland.
4. Creating natural habitat piles and protecting wildlife habitat.
5. Creating Dry Hedging.
6. Have a written Yearly updated Management Plan for Speckled Wood and involving all sections of the local population in its work and plans.
7. Supporting the Hastings Greenway project to create a cycle and walkway link from Ore to the Town Centre, running through Church Street.
8. Seeking support and assistance from organisations and community groups to further the aims of the group. Whats happening. There are still a number of stages and hurdles to get through before Speckled Wood achieves statutory protected green space status.

1. After FOSWMT members approached the Cabinet and filed petition to bring the matter of Speckled Wood before the Cabinet. The Cabinet Agreed to look at the possibilities of retaining 75% of the Speckled Wood woodland. It agreed to talk with land owners owners.
2. The MDP went to the full council meeting and was approved. FOSWMT was not given permission to speak and was told wrongly that a petition of 1500 signatures was needed again to allow FOSWMT members to speak. During the meeting it was seen that other groups where allowed to talk by just sending in a letter. A formal complaint was made to the Chief Legal Office of HBC.
3. The limited consultation on the agreed draft of the MDP at the end of 2012 has not occurred.
4. During 2013 The Trust became a HMRC Registered Charity and took part in campaigning to keep the woodland safe from development in the Victoria Avenue Planning Application which is still current. We are forefront in this and the movement to keep the woodland as it is. Our Management Plan which was presented to the Hastings Cabinet in 2012 has been used as a plan which we have worked to through the year.
5. Since 2012 residents from the local area voted in an unprecedented sized of vote to save the entire Woodland of Speckled Wood. The total objections to any development of Speckled Wood are currently 2604 made up from various consultations in different votes. These where from the Victoria Avenue Planning Application 549 objections where collected by our charity and another groups 459 objections and the original vote where 1231 votes were presented to Hastings Borough Council in the summer of 2012.
6. The Hasting Borough Council Development Plan has failed to be delivered to the inspector. We understand that the reason for this position is that the South East Plan was abolished, by the government. The SE Plan was a strategic development plan for the whole of South East England, drawn up by the South East Regional Assembly, which has also been abolished. We understand that this was what the Council had based its 3,200 homes housing target on, and meant that they had to go through a lengthy process of that being replaced (in effect) with a target of 7,000 homes, and having to provide new evidence to show that they could only make room for 3,400 new homes. Yes it seems this figure has increased. Because of the abolition of the South East Plan we have been informed that the planning inspector thinks the Council should consult on the DMP again, because of the time that’s elapsed since the original consultation. We understand the consultation will pretty much be a repeat of the last one last year, although probably over a shorter period. As it says in the newsletter, previous comments will be taken into account, but it’s an opportunity to add new ones (or even withdraw previous ones). It’ll thopefully ake place early next year, we don’t know exactly when yet. FOSW, Friends of Speckled Wood. This group has been set up to look after the Speckled Wood in Ore, Hastings, East Sussex its members are from the local community who have an interest in preserving the woodland for local use. FOSWMT Committee:
Contact, Tel: 07857319463. Email: [email protected]

Please see our Constitution document for more information. Area: 5.14Hectares
Grid Reference: TQ834112
email: [email protected]
http://www.friendsofspeckledwoodmanagementtrust.org.uk

The Friends of Speckled Wood also operate a group :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofspeckledwood/

Speckled Woods own website on FB is here:
https://www.facebook.com/SpeckledWood


History:
Members of the local volunteers group, who worked in Speckled Wood maintaining paths and keeping the woodland managed, attended a meeting of the local Ore Community Land Trust in the hope that they would offer a different alternative to this issue. Unfortunately it was decided to only follow the council’s options and not provide any others. The volunteers, who had also been running the Face Book page "Speckled Wood", decided that they need to form their own group "Friends of Speckled Wood". This was started 16th July 2012. As the Friends of Speckled Wood thought that their voters needed a channel, Peter Chowney was invited to join and comment on the situation.

Did they lie?2012-05-11 – Speckled Wood LNR with CabinetDescription: Formal meeting with Hastings Cabinet regarding appr...
30/08/2026

Did they lie?

2012-05-11 – Speckled Wood LNR with Cabinet
Description: Formal meeting with Hastings Cabinet regarding approval of Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status for Speckled Wood.

A slightly more official version:

Description: Recording of a formal Hastings Cabinet meeting concerning the proposed approval of Speckled Wood as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR).

If you want this as a filename, a tidy version would be:

012-05-11 – Speckled Wood LNR with Cabinet Description: Formal meeting with Hastings Cabinet regarding approval of Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status for Speckled Wood. A slightly more official version: Description: Recording of a formal Hastings Cabinet meeting concerning the proposed approval of ...

30/08/2026

Re: Local Plan 2026

Martin Newbold
Fri, Feb 6, 11:32 AM
to Forward

Planning Policy team
Hastings Borough Council
Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings, TN34 3UY

I am already in contact with the East Team as your principal Elenor Evans is again evading her responsibilities in an alleged criminal manner.

Re: FW: HS/0A/24/00611, ESX268862Martin Newbold AttachmentsSun, Dec 15, 2024, 9:13 AMto Emily, Planning, Planning, Plann...
30/08/2026

Re: FW: HS/0A/24/00611, ESX268862

Martin Newbold
Attachments
Sun, Dec 15, 2024, 9:13 AM
to Emily, Planning, Planning, Planning, support, Eleanor, Planning, AF, Anthony, Mandy, kent, Brian, Briony

CC:
Detective Constable Graham Hunt
Economic Crime Unit - Serious Fraud
Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate
Mobile: 07807 340132 | External: 01622 777671

RE: Planning Application Reference HS/OA/24/0611
Location: Land at Church Street, Hastings
Applicant: Dredco Ltd

Dear Ms. Evans, Emily Meppen (Senior Planner)



Development Control

Hastings Borough Council

Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3UY

hastings.gov.uk

I am writing to follow up and seek clarification regarding an ongoing issue that remains unresolved.

East Sussex Council and Hastings Local Authority continue to accept planning applications where the applicant declares ownership of land despite HM Land Registry records or other historical documents proving otherwise. As you are aware, the process clearly states:

"If a local planning authority feels that an application does not accurately or fully describe the proposed development, or that it is in any way misleading, it is entitled to ask the applicant to amend it or rectify any omissions before it agrees to process the application."

Despite this guidance, such inaccuracies remain neither amended nor corrected, and as a result, fraud is committed. I refer you to the precedent highlighted in Planning Permission: Fraud (Hansard Written Answers, 17 Oct 2011) for further clarity on the legal implications. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2011-10-17d.73703.h

Can you please explain why the current procedures do not ensure such cases are identified, amended, or prevented? I would appreciate a detailed response on how this issue is being addressed and what safeguards are in place to prevent false declarations in planning applications.

Communities and Local Government written question – answered at 17 October 2011

The Legal Office Hastings and East Sussex have been put on notice. SinkySnap RSPCA Mallydams Wood Wildlife Rehabilitati...
30/08/2026

The Legal Office Hastings and East Sussex have been put on notice. SinkySnap RSPCA Mallydams Wood Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre Hastings Observer Hastings Online Times Hastings Green Party East Sussex County Council

Gmail record supports that Hastings Forward Planning had been put on notice of this months ago. why would they allow the...
30/08/2026

Gmail record supports that Hastings Forward Planning had been put on notice of this months ago. why would they allow their decisions to be in contempt of tribunal

The 2015 position was formally determined through the statutory plan process: the Planning Inspector examined it, requir...
30/08/2026

The 2015 position was formally determined through the statutory plan process: the Planning Inspector examined it, required changes, and Hastings then adopted the modified DMP under section 23. An authority cannot simply ignore that adopted outcome because officers or Cabinet now prefer something different. Section 23 specifically controls what an authority may adopt following an Inspector’s examination.

"As I expected removal of this site from your Local Plan as its entry is without appeal within 6 weeks from 2015 and th...
30/08/2026

"As I expected removal of this site from your Local Plan as its entry is without appeal within 6 weeks from 2015 and therefore this has not occurred and there appears to be a breach of operational conduct with the PINS to enforce . The matter reached "Procedural Finality" nearly a decade ago.The legal status of the related documentation was validated in Martin Newbold v Information Commissioner [2015] (First-tier Tribunal, GRC). The Tribunal https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5b35bf942c94e01ed25515f2 missed my appeal on the basis that it was reasonable to assume the Inspectorate’s documents were already in the public domain and legally settled. When I presented this evidence of procedural conflict to the Inspectorate, they issued a "No Further Response" notice (Ticket 94041), effectively refusing to explain why they are ignoring the principle of res judicata (a matter already judged).
Request for Action: I request that you refer this case to the PHSO to investigate the Planning Inspectorate’s failure to:

Uphold the legal finality of their own 2015 decisions.

Provide transparency regarding the £58,000 expenditure on a redundant planning cycle.

Adhere to the Principles of Good Administration by closing correspondence when faced with evidence of legal inconsistency.

I have the full "Stage 2" correspondence and the 2015 Tribunal Record ready to provide to the Ombudsman upon their request. THis Tribunal Record can also be found online Martin Newbold v Information Commissioner (Dismissed : Freedom of Information Act 2000) | First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) | Judgment | Law | CaseMine"

I write following your Cabinet column of 28 August 2026 concerning the draft Hastings Local Plan and the proposal that Cabinet recommend to Full Council that the plan proceed to Regulation 19 consultation on legal compliance and soundness.

30/08/2026

2015: independent Inspector examines Speckled Wood/Upper Ore Valley → rejects development allocations CVO1/CVO3 → requires protection/open status → Council adopts the modified statutory plan.

2015 afterwards: Hastings obtains Counsel's advice and itself treats that Inspector-led change as a significant material consideration affecting an existing planning proposal.

2026: if Hastings now proposes development affecting the same land or undermining the same Local Green Space/Ore Valley conclusions, it needs a proper new evidential and planning basis explaining what has materially changed since the Inspector's findings.

Address

118
Hastings
TN355AD

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