Magazine Issue 1 - Winter 1996
Rank to Devastate Forest with 'Oasis Village'

As people find themselves increasingly locked in stressful or soul-destroying jobs, it is no longer enough simply to spend time with friendly people and in pleasant surroundings in order to unwind. People are demanding more of their spare time; the trend is towards increasing commercialisation of leisure and holidays. Cities all over the country are seeing their greenfield sites developed into bingo halls, cinemas, night-clubs and hotels; meanwhile the countryside is becoming littered with holiday villages. Here Greg Muttitt looks at the Oasis Holiday Village which Rank, the developer, is presenting as a "sustainable development".

WHAT IS RANK?
The Rank Organisation plc is one of the world's largest leisure and entertainment companies. It has four operating divisions, based mainly in the UK, Europe and North America. Film and Television includes such names as Odeon Cinemas, Rank Film Distributors, Pinewood Studios and Rank Film Laboratories. In Recreation there are Mecca and Top Rar~k Bingo, Rank Amusements and Associated Leisure. In Leisure, Hard Rock Cafes. And in Holidays, Butlin's, Warner Holidays, Shearings, and now Oasis Villages. Each division brings in profits of £50-85 million. Rank also owns 10% of Rank Xerox and 50% of the film theme park, Universal City Florida.

THE HOLIDAY VILLAGE CONCEPT
Over the last few years, Center Parcs (owned by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries) has been developing "holiday villages" - self-contained villages in woodland which include both accommodation and leisure facilities such as golf, windsurfing, swimming pools and restaurants. Yes, people like the countryside, but it's a bit boring, isn't it? Trees, birds, badgers, rivers, etc. just don't provide the level of entertainment people need; that's why it needs to be comrnercialised. The English Tounst Board descabes the holiday village as the most important tourism product to be introduced into the UK in the last 25 years.

THE PROPOSED WEST WOOD VILLAGE
Rank is already building one Oasis Village in Whinfell Forest, near Penrith, Cumbria. And now West Wood in Lyminge Forest in Kent is facing the development of over 850 buildings, plus a "sub-tropical waterworld", a country club, a 9 hole golf course and an art)ficial lake.

Rank's beautifully presented West Wood News2 talks of the "quiet enjoyment of the countryside, of guests being "at one with the natural surroundings". Not only does it stress the low negative environmental impact of the development, it claims that it "would gradually restore West Wood to a more mixed deciduous woodland... to create a balanced and supportive environment for wildlife." The protection of bird species, of bats, of badgers, of woodland plants and of trees is lovingly described. Water conservation, use of traditional materials, archaeology, views form outside, traffic implications, public access to countryside and economic effects are all covered.

In fact, reading West Wood News makes one want to campaign FOR the development. Until one starts to wonder why Rank is putting so much effort into communicating the environmental benignancy of the development. Consideration of the ecological footprint of 4,500 shortstay visitors on 440 acres of woodland suggests the answer. "Around half of the area within the perimeter fence will be lost to concrete, intensive use, art)ficial habitats or sign)ficant disturbance."3 Indeed, if I were a bat I could think of few things less appealing than living and bringing up a family among 4,500 human tourists, whatever "habitat creation measures" had been prepared for me. Rank claims the village will enhance biodiversity, by introducing areas of water and by replacing some areas of coniferous plantation with mixed deciduous trees. However, the lakes will be rubber-lined and will require 100,000 gals/day for their maintenance4. The construction of buildings and paths will ensure that the dormant seeds lefi below the ground from the ancient woodland are permanently buried. Although the wood could benefit from the cutting of small clearings in the conifers to allow natural regeneration, Rank plans to negate the natural occurrence of this clearance process "The devastation wreaked by the storms of 1987 and 1990 meant that there was a real opportunity for [woodland development] without major tree clearance."2These clearings, after 6-9 years, are in fact showing beautiful regrowth, largely of native species.

THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS
There has been considerable pressure from the English Tourist Board and others to build the village for reasons of national economic interest ("This type of holiday is evidently popular particularly with the French and Belgians"5). Shepway District Council actually invited Rank to develop West Wood. And probably a majority of local residents have been won over by the (really rather tired) "jobs" argument.

THE CAMPAIGN
Notwithstanding this, the campaign against the development has been very strong, from the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation (KTNC), from Greensword and from Lyminge Forest Action Group. These groups have made representations to Rank, to the public inquiry and to local planners and have raised the media profile of the issue. Rank, very keen to push the environmentally-sensitive image, have responded with substantial concessions in terms of habitat protection measures and redesigning of aspects of the development Off-site, Rank has bought 400 acres of land to be handed over to public access and sound ecological management. However, KTNC have argued that "an uncertain and distant promise of improvement on a similar area of land is not ... adequate compensation for certain and immediate damage".3 Furthemmore, there is a suspicion of ulterior motives: aRer a few days guests might feel they've had enough of the 440 acres and drive elsewhere - exactly what the self-contained village is supposed to avoid.

THE EFFECT ON WATER SUPPLIES
In an area where water supplies are already under stress (with hosepipe bans etc.), this aspect has caused some concem among locals. An initial input of 17.5 million gals (to fill the lake - Rank's original plan to use rainwater has been shown to be unfeasible), plus daily consumption of 320,000 gals, will be required.4 Furthermore, in an effort to cut costs, Rank is pressurising the Environment Agency to release it from its 1995 agreement (which was the (then) NRA's condition of withdrawal as a statutory objector) to construct a permanent sewer pipe from the village.6 (This is a very popular way through the planning process - agree to a number of small mitigation measures, then whittle away at these once permission has been granted). Instead, Rank proposes on-site treatment using a diaphragm filter, to retum the filtered sewage and wastewater to the aquifer. The risk of machine breakdown (exacerbated by fissures in the chalk) would "Around half of the area within the perimeter fence will be lost to concrete, intensive use, artificial habitats or signiJicant disturbance. "3

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE DEVELOPMENT
The Oasis Village now has planning permission, but has been taken to judicial review. Howev its to be made from the village are now in question - Center Parcs feels the market for holiday been saturated, and declined from building at West Wood.

New central management at Rank is trying to streamline the Group, shedding loss-making (an it-making) operations. This has led to the cost-cutting in water management, but may result in the project altogether. Rank now wants to wait for results from the Whinfell village before de, Lyminge. However it may just sell the development rights to someone else, if the judicial revi out in favour.

Meanwhile the Flat Oak Society is preparing for a direct action campaign in West Wood. And
outlets in most UK cities, there is an opportunity for some creative campaigning to really emb
company.
| Review and F~nancial Summary 1995
threaten contamination of the water supplyl 2 - WesJ Wood NF`vs, Issue I, July 1994
of many thousands of people across Kent. 1 3 - Conclusions of the proof of evidence of KTNC to West Wood public inquiry
e erences . 4 - Oasis Village Environmental Statement, presented to public inquiry
I - The Rank Organisation pie, 5 - Conclusions of report of Planning Inspector Mr JR Collyer FRICS, June 1995

Contacts:
Greensword, The Romney Marsb nd Saxon Shore Environmental Protection Group, The Spout House, Lympne, Kent CT21 4LQ. tel. 01303 265 737.

The Flat Oak Society, 3 St, Alphege Lane, Canterbury CTI 2EB. tel. 01227 463 368.

Oasis Villages Ltd. Miry Lane, Wigan WN3 4AG Tel: 01293 658 658. (NB Julie Gould, Communic:~tionc Omcor co~mc

6 - Letter to Chief Planning Officer of Shepway District Council from Greensword, July1996

Oasis Villages Ltd. is owned by Rank Group Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Rank Organisation pie.

Rank Or5:anisation pic 6 Connaught Place, London W2 2EZ. tel. 0171 706 1111 Tumover: £2.6b (1995). OperatineProfit: 1994£227m; 1995 - £267m. made a total of £239,000 of charitable donations in the UK. Overseas, Hard Rock Cafe Intemational donated US$1.5m, focussing on environmental and humanitarian

Note the impeccable environmental credentials of Chaimman Sir Denys Henderson: former chairm of ICI, and currently a director of Barclays Bank.