Jesmond Wood set for public auction after decade of planning battles

Woodland and trees at Jesmond Wood off Jesmond Avenue in Highcliffe

19 August 2026

A seven-acre woodland in the heart of Highcliffe is heading for public auction on 14 October. Jesmond Wood, off Jesmond Avenue, carries a guide price of £500,000 to £750,000 after more than a decade of rejected housing proposals.

The site was originally taken by compulsory purchase in the 1960s for a relief road that was never built. It returned to private ownership around 2015 for £300,000 plus a fixed overage of £300,000. Brentland Ltd has since lodged repeated applications, ranging from up to 40 homes and a care home down to nine dwellings. Every scheme has been refused by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, with a final appeal dismissed earlier this year on habitat and nutrient pollution grounds.

Residential street and tree cover along Jesmond Avenue, Highcliffe — Woodland area adjacent to Jesmond Avenue

Local opposition has been consistent and substantial. Hundreds of residents objected to successive plans, citing the loss of trees, the site’s role as a wildlife corridor linking Nea Meadows with Chewton Common, and its allocation as open space in the draft local plan. Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council has repeatedly called for the land to return to public hands.

Councillor Andy Martin, acting chairman of the parish council and ward member for Highcliffe, said the community had fought for ten years to prevent development. “It is a vital environmental parcel of land, it is a wildlife corridor that runs from one end of Highcliffe to the other. We are going to fight as hard as we can to buy this land and bring it back into use for the community.”

The parish has already set funds aside and expects to launch a crowdfunder in the coming days. Critics of the auction particulars have noted that the listing described the land as brownfield and omitted the long record of refused applications.

If the parish succeeds in acquiring the woodland, the intention is to secure it permanently for nature and public benefit rather than housing. The auction will test whether that ambition can be realised after years of planning deadlock.