The bluebell woodland turned 'desolate wasteland'

Campaigners and community members living near an ancient bluebell woodland in Kent say it has been turned into a "desolate wasteland", buried under uncleared, "illegally" dumped waste.

A petition signed by more than 6,500 people is calling for an "immediate clean-up" of Hoads Wood near Ashford.

In January, the Environment Agency (EA) closed down the site to try and prevent further waste tipping.

Ashford Borough Council also said it was also investigating reports of an "odour nuisance".

Hoads Wood is a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and an area of outstanding natural beauty, which ought to be carpeted in bluebells at this time of year but instead huge swathes of the woodland is buried in waste tens of feet deep.

The petition follows an open letter written earlier this month to the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay by six organisations calling for support and funding to clear the site, which began seeing issues with waste being dumped there in 2020.

The Rescue Hoads Wood campaign group said community members would see as many as 20-30 trucks per day dumping waste at the woods at the height of the problem in July 2023.

Some residents fear toxic liquid from the site could end up in the river and have reported a “nasty” rotting-eggs smell coming from the waste.

A spokesperson for Rescue Hoads Wood said: "I’ve even smelled it from my bedroom on one occasion.

“It’s a feeling of being poisoned. And the only way when it’s here you can escape it is by leaving your property and leaving the area completely.”

A spokesman for Ashford Borough Council said to date it had been “unable to establish that the issues have crossed the threshold of a statutory nuisance” but that it continued to "liaise with the relevant agencies" including Natural England and the EA.

The EA reiterated that it was continuing its investigations into illegal fly-tipping at the site and was "determined to keep one step ahead of criminals".

In January, when the EA closed the site, Kent Police's rural taskforce said: "Fly-tipping is often linked to other forms of criminality and we are therefore assisting the Environment Agency and other partner agencies with their investigation and associated enforcement action."

It also described the size and quantity of waste as "shocking and totally irresponsible".

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