Please support a judicial review to stop development that threatens Suffolk nightingales.

Who are we?

Reydon Action Group for the Environment (RAGE) is a group of 170 concerned local residents dismayed at the prospect of losing cherished Suffolk landscape and outraged at the cavalier attitude shown by planners in approving proposals contrary to Council and national planning policies.

 Our Campaign

is about protecting our corner of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

In 2019 St Felix School was granted outline planning permission to build 69 houses on this playing field at Reydon near Southwold which is part of the AONB.  

The planning permission required the school to re-locate the playing field to adjoining land in the AONB which is also part of a County Wildlife Site.   The Site is one of the last surviving remnants of the ancient Reydon Common and has rare heathland habitats sloping down to the marshes of the river Blyth estuary.  

Last month East Suffolk Council gave planning permission to re-locate the playing field which will mean levelling the site and felling 100 year old oak trees.  

The County Wildlife Site is species rich.  Birds include barn and tawny owls, linnet, skylark and this nightingale

As well as construction of the new playing field, a Council-approved 'mitigation strategy' will create sanitised dog-walking areas for the new housing estate at  the expense of further loss of natural habitat.  

Keats wrote in his famous Ode to a Nightingale "Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!"  

Regrettably, the combined forces of East Suffolk Council and St Felix School have other ideas. Help us stop them before it is too late.

The pandemic has made us re-assess our priorities. If you believe that nature should be allowed to thrive in the AONB and that we should keep nests for nightingales, please contribute whatever you can NOW to our fighting fund and please share this page with your friends and family and on social media.

What do we want?

We want the planning permission quashed by judicial review.  If we succeed, not only will part of the AONB have been preserved but also a clear message will have been sent to planners and developers that the legal protection given to the AONB will be upheld and due process followed.  And we will continue to enjoy the magical song of the nightingales.

Local councillor David Beavan says:

“This proposal does not provide social benefit to compensate us for the loss of playing fields and open space in an environmentally sensitive area. Poor planning process has inevitably led to a poor planning decision, and it must be put right.”

How can you help?

We urgently need to raise £2,000  for court fees and further barrister's fees.   We also need a fund available to contribute to the Council's costs if our judicial review fails.  

Please contribute and share this page with your friends and contacts.  

What happens next?

We have started the judicial review by applying to the Court for permission to proceed.  We expect to learn whether we have permission in about the next two months and if so we will start our full case.  

For More Information

Please visit facebook.com/reydonrage for more information on RAGE and the campaign.

Please support us and help save the Suffolk nightingales!

Stephen Chessher

Chairman, RAGE