Please Reopen Heathfield Tunnel on the Cuckoo Trail

Heathfield Tunnel on the Cuckoo Trail has been closed for several years, with no indication by Wealden District Council as to exactly why it has been closed and what the long-term plans for it are.
I sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Wealden District Council asking why Heathfield Tunnel is closed and have received a reply. In their reply they state that they cannot tell me who made the decision, as they did not record this information, and that it was closed due to unspecified incidents and the dangerous condition of the lighting system.
Heathfield Tunnel was the only publicly accessible former railway tunnel in East Sussex and at no point have Wealden District Council stated this was a funding issue; it appears to have been an arbitrary decision.
The tunnel and Millennium Green were opened, through public funding and grants (the tunnel had work costing £258,000 in 1997, or £450,000 today) and it seems a shame this money has now been wasted, with the gates permanently closed.
In Bath a cycleway has been opened recently, which takes in two tunnels, one of which is a mile long, so quite why Wealden District Council are unable to manage this tunnel, I don't know. It seems to be an inconvenience they don't wish to deal with, rather than a properly made and recorded decision.
Please show your support by liking this video, so that we can approach the council and show our support for the tunnel being reopened.

[@CHESEABUN]

Well done Steve. They should open this to the public now. Used to love cycling through the tunnel admiring the brilliant architecture. Would love to see this open again. Richard ( Hailsham)

[@christopherbraiden6713]

Thanks Steve this needs to be sorted out ASAP and open again!!😎🚂🚃🚃🚃🇬🇧

[@jerviservi]

Its a real shame it was closed. With a bit more pressure they will have to make a compromise and reopen it with mitigation in place. Installing lighting and CCTV should deter any malicious activity.

[@drewski363]

Well done Steve. Seems to me that a lot of Councils in Sussex are making decisions without public consultation these days.

[@stuartosborne6263]

I understand that the Cuckoo Trail is jointly managed by W.D.C. and E.S.C.C. may be worth putting in a freedom of information request to E.S.C.C. as well.
Really enjoying your local videos.

[@yiabwstetienne7474]

WDC is allegedly strapped for cash and not that far from insolvency. Any remedial safety work and public liability insurance would probably be astronomic £.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

Utterly ludicrous! And so typical of lefty councils.

[@blake7771000]

Nice one Steve great video, good luck

[@respute7383]

The tunnel was also later found to have weak points underneath the highstreet apparently. A shame though.

[@hamishcairncross]

😃😃 IM IN heathfield miss that tunnel.

[@grimpeursdusud1533]

I visited the tunnel for the first time in 20 years this week. I had walked through it 20 years ago and was impressed by the restoration although some idiot was riding a loud motorcycle through it which somewhat spoilt the visit. I know all about the various incidents since.
As I understand it the tunnel was supposed to be part of a Northern extension of the Cuckoo Trail which never happened due to lack of funding and also the sale of more of the land previously owned by ESCC and thus prevented the tunnel realising its full potential.
Moving forward maybe opening it as part of the regular Heritage Open Days may be a possibility? sorry no idea how you do this but I've done several otherwise inaccessible sites via these schemes.

[@codyalder7696]

Despite the fact that the tunnel was closed for several months at a time on a handful of occasions due to antisocial behaviour, I’m fairly sure that since the council decided to keep it locked permanently it was as a safety precaution because the walls and ceiling has been progressively eroding for a few years now and it would be far too dangerous to allow the public in there incase it became so weak that it completely caved in...

[@whereinsussex]

If that is the case then I can't find it documented anywhere and they didn't state that on their response

[@arcticwarriors7014]

@@whereinsussex I think the railway that used to be there should be restored to its Victorian glory pls and have Victorian steam locomotive running on it