7 December 2005
Opencast developers seek permission to destroy irreplaceable ancient woodland to increase the coal yield
Coed Cadw (Woodland Trust) flags up Coed Hafod Heulog, near Bridgend, as a crucial test case for the Assembly’s policy on protecting ancient woodland.
New planting can in no way compensate for the loss of irreplaceable ancient woodland.
Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, has thrown its weight behind the campaign by local people at Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, to defend their local environment, and in particular their local wood, from the extension of an opencast coal site.
Celtic Energy is seeking planning permission to extend its opencast site at Kenfig Hill (1), on the border between Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot. The plan would involve diverting the Afon Cynffig and destroying 5 hectares (12 acres) of ancient woodland, Coed Hafod Heulog, which graces its banks. However, the Welsh Assembly which is ultimately responsible for planning in Wales has a clear policy, outlined in 5.2.8 of Planning Policy Wales (2), that: “Ancient and semi-natural woodlands are irreplaceable habitats of high biodiversity value which should be protected from development that would result in significant damage.”
The charity is therefore making clear that this application is one of the biggest tests yet for the Assembly’s enlightened policy protecting irreplaceable ancient woodland, which was introduced in 2002.
Furthermore, Coed Cadw is stressing that the proposal to extract 2.5 million tonnes of coal, for burning, will make it all the more difficult for Wales to meet its targets to curb global warming emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. The UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof David King, has made it clear that in his view climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today, more serious even than the threat or terrorism.
Local people have set up an action group known as PACT, Protecting and Conserving Together, which has organised a vigorous campaign against Celtic Energy’s plans. The group has been involved with Cardiff University in doing a Health Impact Assessment of the development, to identify just what impact the opencasting proposal is likely to have on the health of the local community.
Coed Hafod Heulog, the wood under threat, is included in the provisional Inventory of Ancient Woodland1, published by Countryside Council for Wales, which lists all the pieces of known ancient woodland remaining in Wales which are over 2 hectares (4.9 acres). Ancient Woodland is land that has been continuously wooded for at least 400 years, but as it was rare for plantations to be created before that date, ancient woodland typically dates from the last Ice Age, around 9,000 years ago.
The Environmental Impact Assessment, produced on behalf of the developers, makes clear than Coed Hafod Heulog is of high conservation value, and that it serves as a roost for bats. The canopy cover is predominantly oak and ash, with some birch, rowan and holly. The wood has a rich ground flora, including bluebells, wood sorrel, dog’s mercury and wood anemone, all of which are often associated with ancient woodland.
The Environmental Impact Assessment seeks to justify is destruction of this woodland on the basis that this would increase the quantity of coal that could be extracted, from 1.5 million tonnes to 2.4 million, and that the company could carry out “additional planting along the diverted watercourse, so that the overall loss of woodland would be minimal”. Planning Policy Wales (2), however, makes is clear that, because of its age, ancient woodland is irreplaceable. Newly planted woodland can therefore be no substitute for an ancient wood which has developed and matured over thousands of years, and which has the richness of wildlife to prove it.
Rory Francis of Coed Cadw says: “With so much coal, and therefore money, at stake, it is easy to see why the developer has been tempted to make the proposed extension as large as possible, sacrificing the ancient woodland of Coed Hafod Heulog. But the role of the Planning Authorities and ultimately the Welsh Assembly, is to implement agreed planning policies, without fear or favour, and so to protect the environment for the sake of the local community. It is clear that to do this, they will have to turn down the planning application as it stands. We are nevertheless alarmed that the developers appear to think they can get away with completely ignoring the Assembly’s policy on ancient woodland.
“Ancient woods are our richest, most important sites for a vast range of insects, birds, animals, flowers and trees and are home to more threatened species than any other UK habitat. Ancient woodlands are one of the glories of our natural heritage; they are places of inordinate beauty, reservoirs of evidence for environmental change, archaeology and economic history. We simply cannot afford to lose them, and new planting can in no way compensate for the loss of ancient woodland.”
The application is likely to be considered by the County Borough Councils in Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot in the next few months. Coed Cadw sent in a holding letter of objection to the application 11 February this year, and will be submitting a further, more detailed letter, in the next few weeks.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes for editors
1. Coed Hafod Heulog is at grid reference SS 843 842. The proposed opencast site includes all of the wood apart from the northernmost 2 hectares, and extends to the south and west. To view the site of the wood on the Multimap website, go to: www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.5448&lon=-3.6699&scale=25000&icon=x
2. Published by the National Assembly in 2002. The paragraph protecting woodlands is 5.2.8, which is quoted in the second paragraph of this release.
3. More information about Woods under Threat, and what can be done to defend them, is available form the Woodland Trust’s special website at: www.woodsunderthreat.info
4. A low resolution photographs of Coed Hafod Heulog are attached. Higher resolution versions can be e-mailed if requested from roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
