Council agrees funding for Winnie the Pooh events in Ashdown Forest

A conservation charity is set to receive council funding to support a programme of events to mark the 100-year anniversary of Winnie the Pooh.

On Wednesday (September 3), Wealden District Council’s cabinet agreed to provide up to £450,000 in order to aid The Ashdown Forest Foundation (TAFF) in holding a series of events to mark the beloved character’s centenary.

With the real-life Ashdown Forest serving as inspiration for Pooh creator A.A Milne’s 100 Acre Wood, both the council and charity hope to use the occasion as a way to both drive tourism throughout the district and to ensure the forest is safeguarded for future generations.

Council leader James Partridge (Lib Dem) said: “Because of his worldwide fame and Disney association, Winnie the Pooh’s Centenary will be celebrated with or without our support.

“Without our support the celebrations will probably turn into unmanaged visits to an unprepared heath land and will probably do damage to very precious areas.

“Others will profit, but the future of the forest will remain in danger and certainly the rest of Wealden won’t see the benefit.”

In a report to cabinet, council officers noted how the council had previously provided funding, which helped to bring the project forward to its current stage.

Officers go on to say the additional £450,000 would be pulled from earmarked reserves and paid in arrears.

This additional funding, officers said, would also allow TAFF to “leverage in further significant funding” from Arts Council England and others. They also said the council had considered a lower level of funding, but this option was discounted as it would have presented challenges for TAFF’s other funding bids.

Cllr Rachel Millward (Green), the council’s deputy leader, stressed the council’s desire to pull in additional funding from other bodies.

She said: “I don’t think we would be investing that much money unless it had the potential to unlock so much more. There is an application going, which is an application by invitation only … for a project of national significance from the Arts Council.

“That would unlock a similar amount and that couldn’t even have been applied for, the forest couldn’t apply for that, without our support as the basis.

“It makes the project more than financially viable, it unlocks the possibility of the activities that take place across the district. So, much more investment but also there are also funds likely to come in from the various other partners that were mentioned.”

Part of the project is expected to include an installation, which would transform the forest’s visitor centre into a life-sized pop-up book. The cabinet report notes how this installation is intended to drive visitors to come to a ‘safe’ part of the forest without negative environmental impacts.

A regional tour of an additional life size pop-up book is also planned to be developed. Partners across the district and beyond will be able to host and benefit from this visitor attraction, officers say.

There are also plans to establish new walking trails within the forest, which would be designed to avoid protected sites and keep visitors on an official footpath. These educational walks will be signposted with illustrations of the original characters.

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