Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee and host of the session, Joan Walley MP, began by stressing the importance of the future safeguarding of woodlands.
She suggested that from both a constituency and Environmental Audit Committee point of view, there had not been the assurances for the protection of ancient woodland she felt were needed.
Whilst progress had been made within the Infrastructure Bill and in regards to the Communities and Local Government Committee’s proposals for amending the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), Walley suggested there was a lack of coherence with international agreements and negotiations on the issue.
She concluded by highlighting the need to plan for the issue now to ensure cross-party consensus in the next Parliament.
Former environment minister Caroline Spelman MP then took to the floor, primarily focusing on the real-life practical challenges of infrastructure in green belt land in her constituency.
She posed the idea of a woodland hierarchy, which would operate in a similar way to the 2011 waste hierarchy guidance, whereby if ancient woodland had to be removed, those existing fragments of woodland would be buffered so they became more resistant to future threats.
A practical illustration of this was a proper environmental assessment of HS2 and a related offsetting scheme she suggested; the value of green space lost through the introduction of major infrastructure should be assessed and then the best place to offset this should be looked at.
Richard Barnes, senior conservation advisor at the Woodland Trust, spoke of his organisation’s ambition to ensure the UK was rich in woods and trees, enjoyed by everyone.
He noted that whilst ancient woodland only covered around two per cent of the UK, it was central to Britain’s cultural heritage and had quickly risen up the political agenda in the past year.
There were 421 records of ancient woodlands under threat from large scale construction projects Barnes noted; with 27 ancient woods facing destruction from phase one of HS2 and 12 ancient woods from phase two.
Whilst the Woodland Trust was not opposed to the development of HS2, Barnes stressed that a world class infrastructure project in their opinion would be one that protected the UK’s natural habitats, especially those like ancient woodland that, once lost, could not be replaced. He thus urged those in the room to sign an open letter calling on the Government to better protect Britain’s ancient woodland.
Chair of the Chilterns Conservation Board of Conserve the Chilterns, Ray Payne, expanded upon the conflict between improving and building upon the UK’s infrastructure and protecting the natural landscape.
Payne explained that the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), visited by 52 million people a year, was a nationally protected landscape but it would be adversely impacted by the HS2 project.
21 per cent of the Chilterns were woodlands he noted, but the notion of a continuous tunnel the campaign group was supporting would ensure that they weren’t destroyed by HS2 infrastructure.
Clive Betts MP, Chair of the National Parks APPG and Select Committee on Communities and Local Government, detailed the planning issues and policies surrounding the matter. The NPPF stated that the benefits of a development must clearly outweigh the loss when examining whether a project should go ahead, Betts said, but this was arguably a very ‘woolly’ description and open to great interpretation.
Betts believed the loss of ancient woodland should be ‘wholly exceptional’ and had raised this with the Government, on which he was still waiting for a response. He added that it would be worth spending an extra five per cent, if that’s what it would take, on HS2 to ensure the environmental issues were properly addressed.
Question and Answer Session
HS2 research assistant to Cheryl Gillan MP, Emma Crane, asked the panel on their thoughts concerning the relationship between ancient woodland and scientific sites of special interest. Walley suggested that the key issue was that European legislation on the matter didn’t dovetail with the UK’s.
Richard Barnes added that whilst there were levels of European protection, smaller areas of ancient woodland were not recorded as such because they were under two hectares, and thus weren’t privy to the same level of security.
Shadow minister for environment, food and rural affairs, Angela Smith, who was also in attendance, spoke from a constituency perspective on how her local area was at risk.
Proposed plans around HS2 as well as that of a new motorway service station threatened to destroy ancient woodland within Smith’s constituency; there was a need to focus on the cumulative effects of HS2, she explained.
Further questions were posed on the suggested woodland hierarchy and the role of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management in Ecological Impact Assessments.
Lord Framlingham (Con) commented that trees, much like bats and badgers, were often perceived as an inconvenience rather than an asset. He said this must be righted and the Government and the public needed to be convinced that woodland and forests were a benefit to the UK, not a hindrance.
The session concluded with attendees and panel members agreeing that the Woodland Trust’s proposal for an open letter to Government to further raise awareness of their desire to see modern infrastructure work alongside ancient woodland protection would be beneficial. It was agreed that the letter would be circulated following minor amends.