10 signatures reached
To: Adrian Chapman, Executive Director of Place and Economy, Peterborough City Council and Rosie Slater-Carr, Chief Operating Officer & Interim Chief Executive of the Church Commissioners
Save the Dormice in Bedford Purlieus SSSi, Cambs
Ensure the dormice in Bedford Purlieus are not being placed at risk.
Why is this important?
In February 2025 planning application 25/00122/FUL was published on Peterborough City Council website proposing a change of use of the stable block built in 1885 at St Johns Farmyard, Kings Cliffe Road, Wansford, PE8 6NT to residential housing. The application site includes a proposed access route via a 500m long southern section of a private road that connects onto the rural Kings Cliffe Road. The private road transects Bedford Purlieus part of ancient Rockingham Forest.
The applicant is the Church Commissioners who are a charitable organisation with a £10billion investment portfolio. Their values include fairness, empathy and inclusion. However no consultation has been done with the mainly female horse owners and immediate residential properties.
In 1969 Bedford Purlieus gained SSSi status and is a Grade 1 Nature Conservation Review Site with an outstanding range of flora and fauna. In 1975 a report drafted by GF Peterken, a highly regarded ecologist, highlighted the huge amount of rare ecology in Bedford Purlieus which covers 211 acres. From the 1970s there has been a strong interest in the forest's ecological value with an ongoing focus on leisure and conservation. Due to the work Peterken carried out, Bedford Purlieus became a National Nature Reserve in 2000. Since then there have been many successful conservation efforts in the forest which includes the reintroduction of the hazel dormouse which nationally is at risk of extinction.
The preliminary ecological appraisal for the planning application denies dormice are present in and around the proposed development and that they have not been recorded in Bedford Purlieus since 2013. Many of the reports produced for the application appear incomplete and do not include the access route that runs through the ancient forest despite it being part of the application site. Dormice were reintroduced into Bedford Purlieus in 2001 and according to the Rockingham Forest Vision website, monitoring carried out by the Forestry Commission has shown a long term success with dispersal within the forest from the initial release site. This monitoring is part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) coordinated by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).
A report produced by the PTES shows dormice were present in Bedford Purlieus in 2019 and had dispersed to hedgerows along the western edge of the forest which is where the proposed development is located. The Forestry Commission, however, make no reference to dormice or the monitoring they commissioned in their consultation response to the planning application. The PTES report indicates that with habitat management the dormice in Bedford Purlieus might join up with the dormice in Fineshade Woods to the west. This would encourage genetic diversity and ensure the long term health of the local population. Easton Hornstocks and Great Collyweston Wood to the north west of the application site are also fragments of ancient Rockingham Forest and offer ideal habitat for dormice. However, the planning application denies that dormice migration is possible.
Hazel dormice are included on the list of species of principle importance in England under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006). They are also listed as vulnerable on the Red List for England's Mammals, on the Mammal Society website.
Dormice live mainly off the ground in trees and hedgerows in woodland during May to September when they breed. They hibernate from October to April curling up into a ball often around the base of a tree or under a log. Sometimes, they might use dormice boxes specially erected on trees for breeding or hibernating. The boxes help to conduct surveys that are an important part of dormouse monitoring. The People's Trust for Endangered Species website states surveys should be carried out as a minimum twice a year once in May/June and in September/October. The surveys, however, can be carried out more often.
The preliminary ecological appraisal for the planning application indicates that 190 dormouse boxes are located in Bedford Purlieus. Some of the boxes can be seen on trees in the hedgerow close to the stable block whilst others are visible on trees and lying on the ground just metres away from the southern section of the private road that runs through the forest.
It is understood locally that no on-site dormice surveys have been carried out by the Wildlife Trust in this location for a couple of years; the ecology consultant who used to undertake the monitoring is moving away from the area. There is no mention of active dormouse monitoring in Bedford Purlieus currently on the Wildlife Trust’s website. No on-site dormouse survey was carried on and around the application site for the planning application.
This winter a huge amount of tree felling took place along the western edge of Bedford Purlieus. The trees to be felled were marked with pink dots twelve months ago. However many trees that were not marked were also felled along the private road. A huge area is now devoid of woodland replaced by ugly deep ruts in the exposed soil that floods. It is unclear if the Forestry Commission will replenish the decimated woodland. This felling work appears to contravene the Forestry Commission's own “Protocol for undertaking woodland management in England where dormice are present” Without any on site surveys having been carried out in recent years it is unclear if any dormice were affected.
What you can do to help the dormice in Bedford Purlieus
The Wildlife Trust for Northants, Beds and Cambs website is calling for volunteers to monitor dormice in Rockingham Forest so anyone who is interested to do so in Bedford Purlieus should email [email protected]. No experience is needed and training will be provided.
The protection of dormice is a material planning consideration, therefore, any members of the public who are concerned about the impact on dormice with the proposed development are urged to send in comments to Peterborough City Council about planning application 25/00122/FUL.
Please sign this petition which will be presented to the Adrian Chapman who signs off planning applications for Peterborough City Council and .Rosie Slater the current interim CEO of the Church Commissioners.
Thank you.
The applicant is the Church Commissioners who are a charitable organisation with a £10billion investment portfolio. Their values include fairness, empathy and inclusion. However no consultation has been done with the mainly female horse owners and immediate residential properties.
In 1969 Bedford Purlieus gained SSSi status and is a Grade 1 Nature Conservation Review Site with an outstanding range of flora and fauna. In 1975 a report drafted by GF Peterken, a highly regarded ecologist, highlighted the huge amount of rare ecology in Bedford Purlieus which covers 211 acres. From the 1970s there has been a strong interest in the forest's ecological value with an ongoing focus on leisure and conservation. Due to the work Peterken carried out, Bedford Purlieus became a National Nature Reserve in 2000. Since then there have been many successful conservation efforts in the forest which includes the reintroduction of the hazel dormouse which nationally is at risk of extinction.
The preliminary ecological appraisal for the planning application denies dormice are present in and around the proposed development and that they have not been recorded in Bedford Purlieus since 2013. Many of the reports produced for the application appear incomplete and do not include the access route that runs through the ancient forest despite it being part of the application site. Dormice were reintroduced into Bedford Purlieus in 2001 and according to the Rockingham Forest Vision website, monitoring carried out by the Forestry Commission has shown a long term success with dispersal within the forest from the initial release site. This monitoring is part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) coordinated by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).
A report produced by the PTES shows dormice were present in Bedford Purlieus in 2019 and had dispersed to hedgerows along the western edge of the forest which is where the proposed development is located. The Forestry Commission, however, make no reference to dormice or the monitoring they commissioned in their consultation response to the planning application. The PTES report indicates that with habitat management the dormice in Bedford Purlieus might join up with the dormice in Fineshade Woods to the west. This would encourage genetic diversity and ensure the long term health of the local population. Easton Hornstocks and Great Collyweston Wood to the north west of the application site are also fragments of ancient Rockingham Forest and offer ideal habitat for dormice. However, the planning application denies that dormice migration is possible.
Hazel dormice are included on the list of species of principle importance in England under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006). They are also listed as vulnerable on the Red List for England's Mammals, on the Mammal Society website.
Dormice live mainly off the ground in trees and hedgerows in woodland during May to September when they breed. They hibernate from October to April curling up into a ball often around the base of a tree or under a log. Sometimes, they might use dormice boxes specially erected on trees for breeding or hibernating. The boxes help to conduct surveys that are an important part of dormouse monitoring. The People's Trust for Endangered Species website states surveys should be carried out as a minimum twice a year once in May/June and in September/October. The surveys, however, can be carried out more often.
The preliminary ecological appraisal for the planning application indicates that 190 dormouse boxes are located in Bedford Purlieus. Some of the boxes can be seen on trees in the hedgerow close to the stable block whilst others are visible on trees and lying on the ground just metres away from the southern section of the private road that runs through the forest.
It is understood locally that no on-site dormice surveys have been carried out by the Wildlife Trust in this location for a couple of years; the ecology consultant who used to undertake the monitoring is moving away from the area. There is no mention of active dormouse monitoring in Bedford Purlieus currently on the Wildlife Trust’s website. No on-site dormouse survey was carried on and around the application site for the planning application.
This winter a huge amount of tree felling took place along the western edge of Bedford Purlieus. The trees to be felled were marked with pink dots twelve months ago. However many trees that were not marked were also felled along the private road. A huge area is now devoid of woodland replaced by ugly deep ruts in the exposed soil that floods. It is unclear if the Forestry Commission will replenish the decimated woodland. This felling work appears to contravene the Forestry Commission's own “Protocol for undertaking woodland management in England where dormice are present” Without any on site surveys having been carried out in recent years it is unclear if any dormice were affected.
What you can do to help the dormice in Bedford Purlieus
The Wildlife Trust for Northants, Beds and Cambs website is calling for volunteers to monitor dormice in Rockingham Forest so anyone who is interested to do so in Bedford Purlieus should email [email protected]. No experience is needed and training will be provided.
The protection of dormice is a material planning consideration, therefore, any members of the public who are concerned about the impact on dormice with the proposed development are urged to send in comments to Peterborough City Council about planning application 25/00122/FUL.
Please sign this petition which will be presented to the Adrian Chapman who signs off planning applications for Peterborough City Council and .Rosie Slater the current interim CEO of the Church Commissioners.
Thank you.
