Santa's Secret Forest Ince Blundell: 21 Nov, Five-Year Bid

A Christmas light trail in a Sefton wood is asking the council for five more years, and the paperwork behind it counts the red squirrels living there.

Side Step Events Ltd has applied to run “Santa’s Secret Forest” at Orrell Hill Wood, Orrell Hill Lane, Ince Blundell, for a five-year period. Sefton Council validated the application, reference DC/2026/01434, on Wednesday 26 August 2026 (Sefton Council planning register). Comments close on Friday 25 September 2026.

Ince Blundell sits about nine miles south of Southport, between Formby and Crosby. The applicant’s transport consultant puts the site 900 metres north west of the village and 1.3 kilometres east of Hightown.

The 2026 dates are in the application

The submitted transport statement sets out the season the organisers plan to run this year:

• a single VIP event on Friday 20 November 2026
• open to the public Thursday to Sunday from Saturday 21 November
• open every day from Monday 14 December to Thursday 24 December
• 26 opening days in total this year, and no more than 28 to 30 in any of the years to 2030
• the first slot starts at 8.30am, the last at 8pm

Tickets are online only, in half-hourly timed slots, with no walk-ins. The organisers describe a visit as lasting about two to two and a half hours (transport statement, SCP, July 2026).

What is being applied for

The application is for a temporary use of the land, not for permanent buildings. It covers:

• two marquees, plus a VIP marquee, concession huts, polytunnels, reindeer shelters and an entrance gazebo
• temporary steel perimeter fencing 3.2 metres high
• staff and customer car parking on existing mown grass, with no new hard surfacing
• a taxi drop-off and pick-up area

The planning statement says everything is removable and the land goes back to pasture after Christmas Eve each year.

This is the second attempt. An earlier application for the same thing, DC/2025/01580, was withdrawn on 7 January 2026. The transport statement records that a Christmas experience ran at the site between 21 November and 24 December 2025.

Red squirrels live in the wood, and the surveys say so

The most interesting document in the file is an ecological survey the council asked for after the first application.

Tyrer Ecological Consultants Ltd walked the wood four times, in May and August 2026, and found both species present:

• red and grey squirrels are both using the site, spread fairly evenly through the wood
• the highest count at any one time was three reds and three greys
• ten dreys were mapped, though the surveyors say you cannot tell which species built which
• from drey density across 6.75 hectares they estimate a population of about eight squirrels, roughly three red and five grey

More greys than reds were recorded, and the surveyors warn that without further measures the grey population is likely to keep growing. They ruled out the council adviser’s suggestion of baiting and camera trapping, because putting food out where both species live risks spreading squirrel pox, which greys carry and reds rarely survive.

Their recommendations, if permission is granted, are specific:

• a 5 metre buffer around every drey identified before the event is built
• no upward lighting into the tree canopy
• deliberate “no light” areas so squirrels can still move across the site
• visitors kept to existing paths, with temporary barriers to stop wandering
• lighting switched off at the end of each day
• strict litter and food waste control

A separate eDNA test on the site’s pond came back negative for great crested newts, and the ecologists concluded the species is absent, so no licence is needed for it.

The Green Belt question the council has to answer

The site is Green Belt in the Sefton Local Plan. Most of it is also the Orrell Hill Wood Local Wildlife Site, and all of it is inside the River Alt Corridor Nature Improvement Area.

The applicant’s case runs in two parts. First, that the scheme fits the exception in paragraph 154(b) of the National Planning Policy Framework, for outdoor recreation facilities that preserve openness. Second, that if the council disagrees and calls it inappropriate development, very special circumstances exist anyway.

The circumstances put forward are the temporary and seasonal nature of the event, the absence of permanent structures, the restoration of the land afterwards, the educational and inclusive design, and the tourism and jobs benefit. The planning statement is candid that the council’s position is not yet known.

Part of the proposed car park sits in Flood Zones 2 and 3. The submitted flood risk assessment concludes the temporary use would not significantly change surface water runoff or increase flood risk elsewhere.

Traffic: 749 spaces, and a bigger event already runs there

Orrell Hill Wood is not new to crowds. The transport statement records two existing events on the same land:

Against that, the Christmas figures are smaller, and the two documents give different numbers. The planning statement expects about 2,200 visitors a day. The transport statement uses about 3,000 a day at peak, capped at 240 arrivals an hour.

On parking, the transport statement says the site can take about 749 cars, that up to 53 will be needed for staff at shift changeover, and that peak visitor demand should reach about 200 cars parked at once. Access is off Orrell Hill Lane, on a track shared with a waste transfer station that operates all year.

The travel measures offered are staggered half-hourly ticket slots, parking marshals, no ticket checks at the car park entrance, cycle parking, staff car sharing, and a staff shuttle to and from Hightown station three times each morning and three times each evening.

What the organisers say it is worth

The planning statement makes an economic case, and these are the applicant’s own projections rather than independently checked figures:

• about 65,000 tickets sold across a season
• of those, about 55,000 day visitors and 10,000 overnight stays
• £1.5 million spent with on-site vendors and artisans
• about £0.6 million spent in nearby hospitality
• £2 million to £3 million in total direct visitor spending
• 150 or more seasonal jobs, including actors, hospitality, stewarding and technical roles

The transport statement, written for the same applicant, gives a lower staffing figure for the running of the event itself: up to 70 staff and volunteers, with a maximum of 53 on site at any one time.

What it means for you

If you were planning a visit this year, the dates above are the organisers’ intended season, not a permission. The council has until 25 November 2026 to decide, which is four days after the planned public opening.

If you live near Orrell Hill Lane, the traffic case is the part to read. It argues the road already handles a much larger October event on the same access, so the Christmas one adds little. Whether that holds on dark December evenings, on a lane shared with a waste transfer station, is exactly what a comment is for.

And if you care about the red squirrels, the ecological conditions are not yet fixed. The lighting plan the council’s adviser asked for had not been submitted when the squirrel report was written, and the surveyors say the drey buffers and dark corridors can only be set once the lighting and event times are final.

How to comment

• The application is DC/2026/01434, at Orrell Hill Wood, Orrell Hill Lane, Ince Blundell.
• Comments close at the end of Friday 25 September 2026. The separate advertisement period expires on Wednesday 23 September.
• Comment through the application page on Sefton Council’s planning register, where every submitted document can also be read in full.
• The council’s target date for a decision is Wednesday 25 November 2026.

Our page on planning in Southport and Sefton covers the wider Local Plan consultation, which closes on 18 September, and there is more on days out across the area.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Santa’s Secret Forest at Ince Blundell?

At Orrell Hill Wood, off Orrell Hill Lane, Ince Blundell, L38 5DA. The site is about nine miles south of Southport, between Formby and Crosby, and the applicant’s transport consultant places it 900 metres north west of the village and 1.3 kilometres east of Hightown.

When is Santa’s Secret Forest open in 2026?

The organisers’ submitted plan is a VIP event on Friday 20 November, public opening Thursday to Sunday from Saturday 21 November, then every day from Monday 14 December to Christmas Eve. That is 26 days in total. Those dates are what the application proposes, not a permission, and Sefton Council’s own deadline for deciding is 25 November 2026.

How do I comment on the Santa’s Secret Forest application?

Through the application page for DC/2026/01434 on Sefton Council’s planning register. Comments close at the end of Friday 25 September 2026, and the separate advertisement period expires on Wednesday 23 September.

Are there red squirrels at Orrell Hill Wood?

Yes. Four ecological surveys in May and August 2026 recorded both red and grey squirrels using the wood, with a maximum of three of each seen at any one time. The surveyors estimate a population of about eight squirrels across 6.75 hectares, roughly three red and five grey.

Is the site in the Green Belt?

Yes. The land is Green Belt in the Sefton Local Plan, most of it is the Orrell Hill Wood Local Wildlife Site, and all of it lies within the River Alt Corridor Nature Improvement Area. Part of the proposed car park is in Flood Zones 2 and 3.

Sources

• Sefton Council planning register, application DC/2026/01434, for the proposal, the applicant, the 26 August validation date, the 25 September consultation expiry and the 25 November decision deadline.
• Planning statement by Philip Seddon Associates Ltd, submitted with the application, for the five-year request, the structures proposed, the Green Belt case, the visitor and ticket projections, the jobs and spending estimates, and the withdrawal of DC/2025/01580 on 7 January 2026.
• Transport statement by SCP, July 2026, submitted with the application, for the 2026 opening dates, the 26 operating days, the 8.30am and 8pm slot times, the 3,000 peak daily visitors, the 749 parking spaces, the 53 staff spaces, the Hightown station shuttle, and the Pumpkin Patch and Restricted Forest visitor figures.
• Surveys in Relation to Red Squirrels (Tyrer Ecological Consultants Ltd, PR-25-027), submitted with the application, for the four survey dates, the counts of red and grey squirrels, the ten dreys, the estimated population of eight, and the buffer, lighting and access recommendations.
• Environmental DNA (eDNA) Survey Results for Great Crested Newt (Tyrer Ecological Consultants Ltd, July 2026), submitted with the application, for the negative result and the conclusion that the species is absent.

All documents cited are on the council’s planning register under DC/2026/01434. Figures attributed to the applicant are projections submitted in support of the application and have not been independently verified.