Save Muskham's Remembrance Wood

Muskham Wood is an Ancient Woodland and Heritage Parkland under Natural England's definitions. While this Wood is our focus, we are making a case for the fundamental protection of Ancient Woodland to save the Planet. Ancient Woodland is unrivalled as a Carbon Sink and Biodiversity Bank. Ancient Woodland is key to our survival as a species. Every village has a right to its own Ancient Woodland for this purpose. We are calling on Nottinghamshire County Council, the home of Sherwood Forest, to spearhead a National Campaign to protect Ancient Woodland and to call a halt to invasive and damaging planning decisions, like this one, which cuts through a long-standing Area Tree Preservation Order without due diligence.

In the middle of the village of North Muskham stands an Ancient Woodland, a Bluebell Wood with Veteran and Ancient English Hardwood Trees, nationally rare Liesler's Bats, red data list Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Tawny Owls. It hosts one of the tallest Oak Trees in the County complete with a 40-bird, 20-nest Rookery. Dormice and Great Crested Newts live in and around Muskham Wood, which adjoins a Biodiverse Ancient Pasture and is part of a Nature corridor running East-West for many miles on both sides of the River Trent.

Yet today the Woodland is threatened with planning permission granted by Newark+Sherwood District Council to fell some trees and severely prune many others. This will result in a reduction and retrograde change to the appearance and nature of the Woodland and will severely impact the existing local habitats of rare species.

This Woodland is protected by an Area Tree Preservation Order, yet planning permission 20/01325/TPO was granted in October 2020 to alter the nature of the woodland without any impact survey, biodiversity survey or bat survey, and without any public notice being posted, in contravention of case law under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, the Conservation(Natural Habitats,etc) Regulations 1994, the European Habitats Directive and Natural England's Standing Advice on Licensing to move protected species and the Council's own consultation procedures. This legislation relates to all European Protected Species and makes it illegal to intentionally or recklessly kill injure or disturb them. In this case no-one has considered or even looked for them, although the trees are all between 150 and 400 years old, between 35 and 70 feet high, and we have collected evidence of species' roosts and habitat over the last 30 years. The council has not even involved its own locum tree officer. No surveys have been done. The felling and pruning were applied for to "increase aesthetics, make grass cutting easier to maintain and prevent trees taking over the area." This is a protected Woodland with a Bluebell floor, for Heaven's sake. It has also been adversely affected this year by dumping heaps of waste soil, removing the underwood and burning it in situ, burning building waste, spraying herbicide, driving and parking commercial vehicles on the protected tree roots, bluebells and ground-dwelling bats, building a workshop and running a construction/vehicle maintenance business in the woodland.

Please revoke this Planning Permission. It isn't the first attempt at warfare on the Wood. Since 2007, various parts of the Woodland TPO has been attacked by tree fellers acting for developers. We are sure the present case is no different. The Woodland has fallen into different hands, although it was meant to be an amenity for the housing estate built on its central pasture in the 1980s and was a condition of that planning.
We fought the felling of ten trees at the west end by a developer in 2007-9. We fought the felling of ancient Yew Trees, Holly Trees, Ash Trees in 2007 at the north end by the County Council's maintenance team. Here we are again, with the Tree Preservation Order being flouted at the east end of the Wood. Yet we also bought part of the Woodland in 2001. It came with substantial clauses against development. So what exactly is going on in the rest of the Woodland, apart from profiteering? Honour the Woodland TPO, reinstate this valuable ancient wooded area, retain its existing Veteran and Ancient Trees.

We would like to return the whole Woodland to its rightful state as a Remembrance Wood for the men who preserved it in the 1970s. Geoff Chadd went through World War 2 as a Lancaster Navigator in RAF 613 Squadron. His air crew went down in the North Sea and only he and one other of the six crew survived. Although his health was badly affected for the rest of his life, Geoff Chadd took solace from the great trees and the peace of this ancient place, remembering his friends and the many brave men who didn't return.

We are looking to our County Council to remember them by:
1) Saving Muskham Wood and its ancient trees and all the other Woods in our County from damage by inappropriate management
2) Saving other species by preserving their woodland habitat and obeying the Spirit of the Law on Nature, not looking for loopholes into profit
3) Renaming Muskham Wood as Muskham Remembrance Wood to help our Servicemen and other people experience Peace in Nature. Please remember them, honour their familiar woodlands and save their trees
4)Taking the lead on the preservation of Remembrance Woods across Britain as great habitat for other species. Biodiversity is important to Nottinghamshire County Council and to all of us. Please help us to keep it that way