Speckled Wood is a much loved local woodland, valued for wildlife, public access, and its role in managing surface water and flooding.

In the Draft Hastings Local Plan, land on Graystone Lane is identified for housing.

It is used every day by local people for walking, fresh air, and quiet time in nature. Children explore its paths, neighbours meet there, the local Forest School group learn there and volunteers have spent years caring for it.

The woodland supports a wide range of plants and animals and forms part of a green corridor through the Upper Ore Valley. Its trees and soil help absorb heavy rainfall, slow water run off, and reduce pressure on drains and streams downhill. In a densely built up part of Hastings, spaces like this are rare and irreplaceable.

The plan describes this land as being adjacent to Speckled Wood. This is incorrect. Council maps and Land Registry plans show the land sits within Speckled Wood itself.

Speckled Wood is already protected as Local Green Space under policies HN8 and HN10 in the adopted Local Plan. This protection was confirmed following the 2015 Planning Inspector’s report.

The Inspector recognised the borough’s housing shortage but still concluded that Speckled Wood is

“demonstrably special to the local community”

and that

“the wider public interest lies with the land remaining open”

The Planning Inspector required housing allocations within Speckled Wood to be removed in order to make the Local Plan sound.

The Draft Local Plan provides no new evidence or justification for reversing this decision.

Local people came together before to save Speckled Wood. We are unfortunately having to ask you to do so again!

We call on Hastings Borough Council to:

Correct factual errors in the Draft Local Plan
Respect the existing Local Green Space designation of Speckled Wood
Remove the Graystone Lane site from housing allocations
Work with the community to protect Speckled Wood for future generations