Hangleton environmental project clears 40 years of debris from Benfield Valley

Benfield Valley Project volunteers. PHOTO: Benfield Valley Project

Submitted by Benfield Valley Project

A group of volunteers from Hangleton, in East Sussex, have joined together to clear a long-neglected area of the Benfield Valley, on Saturday, January 29.

The Benfield Valley Project partnered with The Sussex Wildlife Trust volunteer team to tackle a space of woodland, which contained ‘human debris’ from more than 40 years of neglect.

The area has been a site of attraction for illegal camping and fly-tipping for a number of years creating a biohazard for the wildlife that live there.

This can cause harm to protected species, such as badgers, hedgehogs, and common lizards.

It took the group of almost 50 community members and volunteers more than an hour to clear the area of the detritus.

The clean-up found a number of unusual items, including a quarter of a cast iron bath, an axe head and a Charles and Diana plastic bag from 1981.

There was also evidence of refuse burning with huge chunks of melted plastic bags buried deep into the earth.

Founder and chair of the Benfield Valley Project, Helen Forester, said: "Due to the scale of the rubbish on the site and the threat it posed to the local ecology and local community wanting to walk through it, we knew that this needed to be dealt with with the utmost urgency lest further damage take place, however as a relatively small group of locals, we also knew that it would be too big a job for us alone."

Helen said the group attempted to contact the council, asking them to clear the space but were referred to the leaseholders, who didn’t respond to emails.

Benfield Valley Project’s ecologist and treasurer, Kayla Potter-Jones, said: "Discarded rubbish in our environment can trap and injure wildlife, it can often be mistaken for food, causing them to become ill or to starve to death. Plastic takes years to decompose, releasing toxins into the soil as it does so.

"Removing rubbish from our wild areas is crucial to looking after our environment and all of its inhabitants, which includes us."

The group of locals, with ages ranging from four to 75, came together to show what can be done for nature when working towards a common goal.

Benfield Valley Project member, Carla Blackman, added: "It was an amazing event and so inspiring to see the community pull together to get something done.

"The cleared area looks so lovely now and is the perfect spot to relax with a good book and listen to the birds."

The Sussex Wildlife Trust volunteer team was led by the Trust’s community action officer, Huw Morgan, he said: "It was fantastic to bring the Sussex Wildlife Trust volunteers together with the Benfield Valley Project and local residents to clear a staggering amount of rubbish out of the woodland.

"It was an amazing turn out and a really inspiring example of a local community taking action for wildlife. A brilliant morning’s work."

The Benfield Valley Project was formed during the first lockdown of 2020, as a response to housing development proposals from Brighton and Hove Council.

The volunteers have undertaken a number of litter picks, nature walks, and conservation activities such as mammal tracking and wildlife surveys.

The aim of the project is to raise the profile of Benfield Valley and encourage the council and locals to recognise its ecological value.

Plans for more litter picks are in the works along with a number of community events for all ages over the Spring and Summer months.  

To find out more about the Benfield Valley Project, visit here, or for more information find them on Facebook.

Get all the latest news, updates, things to do and more from your local InYourArea feed.