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 P
lan 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.
