20 October 2006
As the day of reckoning approaches, Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) steps up the campaign to save Coed Hafod Heulog
Planning application could be first big test of the Welsh Assembly’s clear policy on protecting irreplaceable ancient woodland
Coed Hafod Heulog (1), a beautiful ancient woodland (2) that stands on the banks of the river Kenfig near Bridgend, will be lost to the chainsaw over the next few months unless local councillors take a principled decision to protect it.
Within less than month Councillors from Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council will be voting on a planning application to extend the existing opencast coal site at Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, an application which if approved would require the complete destruction of 4.5 hectares (over 11 acres) of Coed Hafod Heulog, a ancient semi-natural woodland which stands on both banks of the River Kenfig. Ancient Woodland is at least 400 years old, and probably dates back thousands of years to period following the last ice age.
As the application straddles the border between Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend, it has been submitted to both Councils. Neath Port Talbot look set to be the first to vote on it.
The application is a vital test case as in 2002 the Welsh Assembly adopted a new policy of protecting the small areas of ancient woodland that remain from being significantly damaged by planning applications. The land concerned represents less that 2 per cent of Wales. Paragraph 5.2.8 of Planning Policy Wales states clearly:
“Ancient and semi-natural woodlands are irreplaceable habitats of high biodiversity value which should be protected from development that would result in significant damage.”
Over the past year Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, has been working to support the local campaign group PACT (3) (which stands for ‘Protecting and Conserving Together’) which has organised a vigorous campaign against the opencast plans, submitted by Celtic Energy. 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.
Now Coed Cadw has sent further letters to Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend Councils, making clear its objection to the plans, and commenting on the latest information submitted by the developers.
A copy of one of the letters is attached. As well as making clear Coed Cadw objection to the loss of the woodland and quoting the Assembly’s policy, the letter refers in particular to the company’s proposal to carry out “additional planting along the diverted watercourse, so that the overall loss of woodland would be minimal”. The charity’s letter stresses that Planning Policy Wales, makes is clear that, because of its age, ecological complexity and historical associations ancient woodland is irreplaceable. “Newly planted woodland can 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.”
The letter also refer to the information submitted by the developer in support of the application: “All this information confirms that Coed Hafod Heulog is ancient woodland of high ecological value. It contains a rich variety of flowering plants that are typical of ancient woodland, including bluebells, wood sorrel and dog’s mercury, and is also an important habitat for pipistrelle, natterers and long eared bats.”
Rory Francis, Public Affairs Officer for Coed Cadw, comments: “There is so little ancient woodland remaining in Wales that we simply cannot afford to lose it. To their huge credit, the Assembly has adopted a firm policy of protecting ancient woods like Coed Hafod Heulog. We will be looking to the two local Councils to implement this policy.”
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 to 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 multimap
2. Ancient woodland is defined as land that has been wooded for at least 400 years. It is the richest wildlife habitat in the UK and equivalent to the rainforest.
3. PACT have their own website at: http://pactwales.blogspot.com/
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
