6 April 2006
Pencoedtre Wood, Barry, is of such high ecological value that the CCW are evaluating it with a view to possible designation as SSSI!
The Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, has launched an eleventh hour bid to save Pencoedtre Wood (1), an irreplaceable ancient woodland (2) near Barry, from being bulldozed to make way for new housing and industrial units. This will be a crucial test of whether the Welsh Assembly’s official policy of protecting irreplaceable ancient woodland will be put into effect in practice.
A planning application has been submitted to develop the Pencoedtre Wood that would destroy 9.4 hectares (23 acres) of the wood, as well as fragmenting and degrading the 6.3 hectares (15 acres) that would remain. This would be by far the greatest loss of ancient woodland in Wales since the Assembly gave it protection under planning regulations in 2002.
However, as the Vale of Glamorgan’s Unitary Development Plan allocates the land for development, there is a high risk that it will be approved. This is despite the fact that, as ancient woodland, it has huge wildlife value, it is literally irreplaceable, and like all other ancient woodlands in Wales it is supposed to be protected from development by the Assembly’s key planning document Planning Policy Wales (3).
Now the Woodland Trust is urging local people to write to the Vale of Glamorgan Council to voice their opposition to the scheme.
The latest news is that a glimmer of hope has appeared on the horizon in the past month; at the end of last year the Vale of Glamorgan Council released an ecological report on Pencoedtre Wood which it had itself commissioned. This confirms clearly that the wood is ancient and of very high ecological value, rebutting suggestions to the contrary by the developers. The report is so clear in stressing the ecological value of the Pencoedtre Wood that the CCW is now undertaking an evaluation of the woodland’s importance in the national context, a process which may lead to its notification as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This is a highly unusual occurrence these days and makes clear just how important a case this is.
The habitat survey found no less than 46 different plant species that are specifically associated with ancient woodland, including greater butterfly orchid, wood sorrel and dogs mercury. In total, 126 different species of vascular plants were found, as well as 71 different kinds of mosses and liverworts and 22 bird species.
Rory Francis of the Woodland Trust says: “We understand that Pencoedtre Wood has a complicated planning history, but the latest survey shows clearly how special it is in wildlife terms. To destroy ancient woodland like this to make way for housing and business units would be the worst kind of vandalism, particularly when alternative, brownfield sites exist.
“What worries us most about this case is that the local authority decision-makers may have the impression that local people are not greatly concerned about Pencoedtre Wood. We hope that scores of local people will put pen to paper, and put them right on this!”
end
Do you want to take action to help save Pencoedtre Wood?
Download a draft letter to send to the Vale of Glamorgan Council to object to this planning application.
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
Images
Two digital images of Pencoedtre Wood are attached. If you would like them at higher resolution, please contact me. You are free to use them to illustrate this story.
Notes for editors
1. Pencoedtre Wood is just north of Barry at grid reference ST 126 706. A digital map of the location can be downloaded from 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. Paragraph 5.2.8 of Planning Policy Wales states clearly 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.”
4. More information about Woods under Threat is available at the Woodland Trust's Woods under Threat website www.woodsunderthreat.info
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 from the Woodland Trust in Wales can be accessed at: www.treeforall.org.uk/wales 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.
