Historic woods buried beneath 25ft pile of illegal waste becomes unlikely ... trends now
A historic woodland buried beneath a pile of illegal waste has become an unlikely tourist spot, with social media influencers flocking to visit the stinking rubbish.
Locals have slammed authorities for inaction over a 25ft mound of illegal waste dumped at Hoad's Wood in Kent.
The site also garnered a lot of attention on social media - with even TV presenter Chris Packham taking an interest.
The area more closely resembles a landfill site than a wildlife sanctuary - despite signs at the entrance warning fly-tippers they are being watched and will be prosecuted.
Contractors have estimated it would cost £10million to clear up the mess, and locals have said they want the Environment Agency to foot the bill.
But it has now become an unlikely tourist destination, with YouTubers and TikTokkers flocking to the site to film the wreckage.
Writer, YouTuber and nature enthusiast Alastair Humphreys, 47, made a short film on the waste
The author and podcaster - who has nearly 50,000 followers on X, said: 'It's more organised and industrial and planned than I imagined' as he paid a visit to the site
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Locals have slammed authorities for inaction over a 25ft mound of waste dumped in woodland
Officials launched an investigation after the waste was left strewn across four acres of Hoad's Wood in Kent, near Winnie the Pooh's Ashdown Forest
The area more closely resembles a landfill site than a wildlife sanctuary - despite signs at the entrance warning fly-tippers they are being watched and will be prosecuted
The privately owned bluebell woodland is a designated Sight of Special Scientific Interest, but there are fears the waste could poison the ground and local rivers, driving away the rare species that call it home.
The smell of rotting eggs at the one time beauty spot is over-powering, and local residents have vented their anger at the lack of action to get rid of the waste.
Writer, YouTuber and nature enthusiast Alastair Humphreys, 47, was also at the woods, creating a video for his audience about the destruction, he said: 'I've been following the story on Twitter over recent months but I thought I should come down and see it for myself today.'
The author and podcaster - who has nearly 50,000 followers on X, said: 'It's more organised and industrial and planned than I imagined.
'Just driving down here, there's quite a few bits of normal fly-tipping, stuff from people's houses and builders rubbish and things like that, I was expecting it to be more like that, but it feels more like it's just someone's business really, professionally dumping stuff out of sight, out of mind.
'I was amazed at the stench, the sort of chemical, grotesque smell of it, and also how much plastic is in it, every cubic meter is just stuffed with shards of plastic.
'Literally tonnes and tonnes of shredded plastic that no one can ever fix now, that's just around for centuries to come.'
'Although it's £10 million to clean this woodland, and I want to see the wood cleaned, it's also highlighting to me just how much litter, plastic, we produce overall.'
Wildlife Filmmaker and Conservationist Richard Taylor-Jones, 50, said the woods is 'ruined'
The bluebell woodland is a designated Sight of Special Scientific Interest, but there are fears the waste could poison the ground and rivers, driving away the rare species that call it home
The smell of rotting eggs at the one time beauty spot is over-powering, and local residents have vented their anger at the lack of action to get rid of the waste
The entrance to the Hoad's Wood Fly Tipping Site is pictured in Ashford, Kent
Contractors have estimated it would cost £10million to clear up the mess, and locals have said they want the Environment Agency to foot the bill
The campaign has set social media alight, drawing interest from people who have never been to the area before.
One of those is Wildlife Filmmaker and Conservationist Richard Taylor-Jones, 50, who said: 'I just noticed on social media the incredible shots of the destruction that's taken place in the wood and decided I should say something myself.
'I'm a local person, I'm always filming around Kent and I want to see our wildlife protected.
'I don't think anybody should be ruining our natural environment this way.
'Waste needs to be thought about and dealt with through the legal channels.
'It might well cost £10 million to clean it up, it might well cost more, but the clean up is only the first stage of what's got to happen.
'You're looking at an ancient woodland that is at least 600 years old, it could be 1000 years old or 2000 years old, there are fungi and bacteria in that soil that this whole ecosystem is built on, they will have been completely destroyed by what's happened out there.
'So, whilst money might be able to clean it up, and plant some new trees and maybe some new bluebells, what it can't do is the work of nature over the course of hundreds of years and that's what it's going to take, £10 million and hundreds of years.'
A spokesperson for the Rescue Hoad's Wood campaign group, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'As a community we were deeply let down by everyone because we were the eyes and ears, the bodies on the ground, who acted as the resource for reporting illegality, and basically the authorities did nothing until it was too late.
'In fact, it's almost as if they let it fill up before closing it off.
'If you look at the £10 million you've got 27,000 tonnes in there, that breaks down to roughly £370 per tonne, including contingency, including all the landfill tax, and including VAT,
