Reasons for including the Titnore Lane area within the South Downs National Park
1. Titnore, Goring, & Clapham Woods, west of Worthing,
straddle the edge of the Sussex coastal plain & the dip slope of the Downs.
They lie across several geologies (London clay, Reading beds, pebble beds,
clay-with-flints, & chalk), giving a variety of plant communities, with
everywhere a dazzling display of Bluebells, under Oak, Birch, Elm, Beech, &
Maple. This woodland gives the lie to the notion that Beech is the only real
tree of the South Downs. Clapham & Titnore Woods show the way our Downland
woods would have looked 200 years ago, before the age of regimented plantations.
Titnore & Goring are one of only two ancient woodland complex's surviving on
the coastal plain of Sussex, & the other one (Binsted Woods at Arundel) is
also threatened by development (from the proposed Arundel A27 bypass). Percy
Bysshe Shelley's family long owned these woods, & his grandfather built the
whacky & beautiful Castle Goring (a delight of knotty Gothick &
Palladian) whose whole setting is to be encroached upon by this development. The
woods are also SNCI's.
2. Ancient woodland supports a whole series of species which need extensive woodland to survive, such as Goshawk, Dormice, Purple Emperor & Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly, Yellow-legged Clearwing moth, & the Giant Ichneumon Wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria), in a matrix of Bluebell & Wild Daffodil carpeted mixed coppice & plantation
3. Titnore & Goring Woods are
one of only 2 large ancient woodland tracts surviving on the Coastal Plain of
Sussex, east of Chichester, the other one being the Binsted Woods SNCI, south
west of Arundel. For
this reason alone they are worthy of preservation in toto, with their buffer
zones, & within their landscape contexts. The rest of the Coastal Plain,
including the Manhood Peninsular, retains only tiny ancient woodland fragments,
like Hunston Coppice (& has, additionally, lost almost all other old
semi-natural habitats on land, such as all its heathy commons & greens,
& almost all of its old meadows).
4. Titnore & Goring Woods, &
the adjacent & connected complex of Clapham Woods, has been severely damaged
already by the anti-social & selfish actions of their landowner, over
several decades. We have already had to suffer decades of painful erosion of
this magnificent resource - with "hollowing out" of the woodland, the bulldozing
& reseeding of wide rides, proposals for golf courses & rubbish dumps,
& the bulldozing of coppice coups. The whole complex risks becoming severely
fragmented, & the protective spirit of the law (using Tree Protection
Orders, & so on) has been flouted.
5. Without protection Titnore lane
could be widened and many trees will be felled, and the impact on the ecology of the
area will be enormous. There are few if any comparable woodland on the coastal
plain. It is an irreplaceable national asset. Not only would the loss of any
woodland quality, by felling, fragmentation or urban encroachment be
unacceptable in terms of its impact on the visual quality of the local landscape
and it's continuity, but also the area is a vital part of the historical
development of the landscape.
6. It is note worthy that parts of the woodland under
threat can be traced back to the customals of the Manor of Haydon dating from
1321. In medieval times much of the surrounding area comprised the Deer park of
Goring. It is therefore important to the historical heritage.
7. As various surveys of the area have found, there is a
rich mosaic of protected animal and plant species. Titnore Wood has Dormice
while Mitchell's Furzefield is home to a very rare fly 'Leopoldius Brevirostra',
which is only the tenth UK habitat recorded. Then there is the presence of the
White Admiral Butterfly, which is noted for population fluctuations. All of this
makes the retention of the habitat provided by the woodland complex, and the
surrounding buffer zone from the urban sprawl, even more important.
8. The area is of high cultural history importance being
the site of a Roman Villa and the most likely area for the Roman settlement and
road.
9. Any widening and straightening of Titnore Lane together
with the increase in traffic will have a disastrous impact on the ecology and
cultural importance of the area.
10. From the vantage point of the National Trusts Highdown Hill the setting of the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will ruined by the proposed widening and straightening of Titnore Lane.
11. Ancient woodland on the costal plain is very rare;
Worthing is therefore fortunate to have an area of such size and extent. However
this brings its responsibilities as the woodland supports a considerable variety
of bird, mammal and plant species, many protected. The importance of preserving
and enhancing the area is of national concern.
12. The proposed widening and straightening of Titnore Lane
would have an unacceptable impact on the character of the Lane. It is widely
accepted the Lane's origins are pre-historic and therefore part of our cultural
history. This must be protected for future generations to behold
13. From the National Trusts property of Highdown Hill,
Titnore Lane for the most, is hidden from view by the canopy provided by trees.
Only the A27 to the north has an adverse impact on the scenic quality of the
South Downs AONB. Felling of trees will remove the canopy, exposing the alien
linear scar of the works to Titnore Lane, thus degrading the setting of the
AONB.
14. The biodiversity impact of any development in the
Titnore Lane area is surely in conflict with the objectives set by government
for the maintenance, restoration and re-creation of woodland, habitats, meadows
and hedgerows. It therefore follows we would hope this area, which contains rare
and threatened species, to be afforded National Park status protection. Only
then will it get careful management and improvement so it remains a haven for
wildlife.
15. The area is of high cultural history importance being
the site of a Roman Villa and the most likely area for the Roman settlement and
road.
16. The section of Titnore Lane that could be widened
and straightened, is not at present within the Draft Boundary of the proposed
South Downs National Park. At a previous Public Inquiry into a proposed
development nearby, the Inspector rejected any such destruction of Titnore Lane
by this passage (numbered G21 from his report published 13 February 1992):
'The improvement to the Lane proposed by the appellants
closely follows the line which the highway authority have revealed to them. Leaving aside any question of
whether Titnore Lane has an open aspect,
it does have a pleasant rural character which derives very largely from
its winding nature and the trees and hedges which crowd closely along either
side. Their loss, and replacement by an engineered
alignment, would be damaging to the rural character of the area, and would have
a wider impact in that what is now a sudden change from the spreading urban
fabric of Worthing to a quite intense rural ambience would be diminished. My assessor advises me that, in his view, the loss of woodland along the lane
would lead to the removal of specimen oaks of considerable lichenological
interest, and that the improvements
would be visually and environmentally damaging. (S7.18) I accept his
advise'.