A campaign has begun to save a dog walking field in Crowborough which has been closed by Wealden District Council planners.
Users of the field have described the council’s actions as “heavy handed” and the owners say they are “struggling to understand why the council is being so difficult”.
But the council insists that the planning application to use the field for dog walking, which was retrospective, was dealt with properly and while 59 letters had been received supporting the plan, objections had come from Buxted Parish Council, highways officers and 21 local residents.
The disagreement seems to stem from planning rules relating to the site in Burnt Oak Road at High Hurstwood. It opened as a dog walking field in July 2025.
John Parselle, who rents the field to use as a dog walking facility, told Crowborough News: “Shortly after it opened Wealden District Council (WDC) were in touch requesting a planning application for a change of use. During the application process, the Highways department raised a potential highways concern, purely because the access is on a national speed limit road.”
Mr Parselle said the highways officers did not say it was unsafe, just that a safety survey was needed. “As soon as this was mentioned, we proactively offered to commission an independent speed and traffic survey to objectively demonstrate that existing traffic volumes are very low, vehicle speeds are modest due to the nature of the road, and the entrance is safe and has been operating without incident.”
But he said WDC’s response was to refuse permission and issue a stop notice. “Rather than discussing this or allowing for such a survey, the council simply issued a refusal, following which the council asked us what our intentions were.
“We replied openly and clearly that we intended to appeal the decision. Shortly after that, we received a letter stating that they intend to issue a Stop Notice on the grounds of safety.”
The Stop Notice meant the field had to close immediately and remain closed throughout the entire appeal process. The field was shut on 20 February.
Mr Parselle said: “We are struggling to understand why the council is being so difficult, particularly given there have been no accidents or safety incidents since opening, the usage levels are low, and given the quiet nature of the site.”
He added that they have since conducted the speed survey as well, which showed the average speeds are well below 30mph, significantly less than 60mph.
“There is a clear community benefit that the field provides to dog owners who wish to walk their dogs safely and privately and off leash.” He said. “Since opening there have been 370 unique users of the field. There is only one booking per hour and typically there is only one car per booking, so say 10 cars per day assuming maximum booking capacity.”
A crowd funding appeal called Save Crowborough Dog Walking Field has been started to help with additional planning appeal costs, which you can see here and also see the field itself in the video https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-crowborough-dog-field.
A spokesperson for Wealden District Council said: “The suggestion that the council simply refused application without proper consideration is not correct. This was a retrospective planning application and it was considered through the normal planning process, including consultation with the Highway Authority, Buxted Parish Council and local residents.
“The Parish Council raised objection, whilst the site notice received split views. 21 letters of objection were received. These cited highway safety and congestion concerns, ecological concerns potential for future light pollution, harm to amenity and impact on High Weald. 59 letters of support were also received opining it was a much needed facility and safe for dogs.
“The officer’s report also records an objection from East Sussex Highways because the access had insufficient visibility splays, and it also found insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the use would not cause unacceptable harm to nearby residential amenity.
“Following refusal, and given the concerns identified in the report, particularly in relation to highway safety, the council has now served an enforcement notice in the public interest.”