A row has erupted over Winnie the Pooh's birthday after an MP branded a council's decision to spend £500,000 of taxpayer money celebrating the milestone 'a joke'.
When it announced the celebration plans, Wealden District Council said £450,000 of council savings would be used to fund the project including events and a life-size pop up book.
But a Freedom of Information request by Sussex Weald MP Nus Ghani has revealed this figure has since increased by £50,000.
She has criticised this decision to up the funding when "refusing to take legal action against the Home Office’s use of Crowborough Training Camp".
The MP said: "It is the month of April, so you would think this is an April Fools’ joke.
"After a bit of digging for information, I am shocked to discover that the Liberal Democrat and Green Party Coalition leading Wealden District Council decided to spend vast sums of taxpayers’ money on a project with no transparency as to what value it will bring or how they are going to leverage private funding.
"I am all for celebrating the centenary of Sussex Weald’s most famous resident, but whilst refusing to take legal action against the Home Office’s use of Crowborough Training Camp, Wealden District Council are yet again not prepared to showcase how these funds will actually be spent and I dread to think what resources are being taken away from our local public services."
The Winnie-the-Pooh stories and specifically Hundred Acre Wood were inspired by the heaths and woodlands of Ashdown Forest.
Author A.A. Milne, who lived nearby, based the adventures of Pooh and his friends on walks he took in the forest with his young son Christopher Robin, who he named the main human character in his books after.
The first collection of stories were published in 1926 and a century later, thanks in part to Disney film adaptations, Winnie is one of the most recognisable characters in children's fiction.
The centenary celebration is a project called the Big One Hundred. It will be produced by live event company Trigger and led by The Ashdown Forest Foundation.
Plans include a visitor-centre installation designed as a life-sized pop-up book and new walking trails intended to steer visitors away from protected parts of Ashdown Forest.
It will also feature large-scale puppetry, interactive performances and five themed walks. The project is also being supported by Arts Council England.
The £500,000 council funding will be paid to the foundation after the project is carried out.
When it was first announced in September, deputy council leader and Green councillor Rachel Millward said: “Our investment is not just about marking a centenary, it’s about ensuring the Forest remains a place of wonder and learning for generations to come.
"With careful planning, strong partnerships, and local engagement, this project will create real and lasting benefits environmentally, socially, and economically for the whole region.”
In January, the first of 500 single male asylum seekers were moved into former army barracks in Crowborough as part of the Government's plans to stop using hotels.
It has sparked months of protests led by community group Crowborough Shield, which plans to take the Home Office to the High Court.
The original article is available here.
