Crawley MP Henry Smith hails victory in campaign to protect Oldhouse Warren from new Center Parcs holiday village

Henry Smith MP at Oldhouse Warren with the Sussex Wildlife Trust in November 2022.

Henry Smith MP has welcomed the decision announced by Center Parcs that they will not be progressing plans, announced in July 2021, to develop a holiday site at Oldhouse Warren, Worth.

While proposals fell just outside the Crawley boundary, in neighbouring Mid Sussex, they would have had a significant effect on the Crawley area.

Henry said: “I’m delighted that the ancient woodland in Oldhouse Warren just outside Maidenbower is saved from development!

“I’d like to thank area councillors, Kim Jaggard, Jennifer Millar-Smith, Bob Lanzer, Duncan Crow and Duncan Peck for their efforts to protect this local habitat.

“Over recent months I’ve continued to reiterate the opposition of great numbers of local residents to the holiday site proposals. I discussed this with the Woodland Trust in Parliament last week and in November I was pleased to meet the Sussex Wildlife Trust on the site itself.

“It’s the right decision and it’s good to see that Center Parcs have also reached this conclusion.

“This victory is welcome news for a beautiful part of the Sussex countryside!

“I don’t oppose Center Parcs per se but not sited in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, furthermore we have more job vacancies in Crawley than people to fill them and need more higher quality jobs too. The increased traffic a holiday park would have created would also have caused congested local roads and reduced air quality.”