RESIDENTS in a Forest village say they are fed up with being treated as "a squiggle on the map" and intend to fight plans for a railway development near their homes.
The recently formed Whitecroft and Saunders Green Community Association want plans for a freight railhead in the centre of the village to be discussed not only locally but Forest-wide.
They say they have been told a substantial grant has been offered by the Strategic Rail Authority to Temple Gate Mining Ltd to develop a freight railhead in the village.
It would be used to transport pit waste reclaimed from the former Eastern United colliery tip at Ruspidge.
In a letter to the Review they say that in addition to road safety concerns there are environmental issues regarding noise, dust and pollution.
They are angry that no-one in the village has ever been consulted about the plans and accuse the Dean Forest Railway of neglecting the centre of the village and turning it into a dumping ground.
They ask if the plan is to "mine out" every spoil heap in the Forest.
"No-one has seen fit to consult our community about this. Neither residents, businesses nor the West Dean Parish Council have been given any say in this, while Ruspidge and Soudley Parish Council have been given every consideration, despite the fact that the operation at that end is in the woods away from the village.
"And given the 'long-term' plans of the county council and the possible implications for the Forest as a whole, for example, the plans to bring these same coal lorries along the public entrance drive to Mallards Pike – we feel the Forest as a whole should be given a say in these plans.
"We in Whitecroft are fed up with being treated as a squiggle on the map, a bend in the road to somewhere else. We feel it is about time we were treated as though we actually exist," they say.