I was horrified to see that the plans of a new housing development in my small village wiping out an ancient bit of woodland.
Where ever you live in the UK, or even the world this matters, we can’t let this kind of thing happen on our doorsteps or on any doorstep.
In every place and on every scale we must be doing everything that we can to preserve our natural woodlands and rewild everywhere that we can.
“Much of our land would naturally support trees that absorb carbon – but at 13% we have some of the lowest tree cover in Europe.
For every hectare, woodland can absorb an average equivalent of around 12.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.” – Rewilding Britain
We share the same co2 and the same problems associated with too much of it – and it can be removed from the atmosphere no matter where we are.
It’s important to understand what is going on in our local communities and to take action to ensure that our voices are loud and clear while the government get themselves organised properly with stronger legislation and concise advice around all of this.
So, this rainy morning, I’ve stayed in bed a couple of hours longer and put together an objection, written to my local councillor and of course shared on my blog too!
Here’s what I’ve said:
“The Scottish Government quickly followed by the UK government have declared a climate emergency. The Scottish government are changing current legislation to look at everything through the lens of climate change. To combat climate change, and ecocide effectively we need to preserve ALL mature woodlands and wetlands as well as restoring nature on a mass scale.
Should you look at this proposed development through the lens of climate change you will see significant issues with it.
The area outlined has both mature woodlands and wetlands which provide a natural habitat for many animals and insects as well as the ability to process co2 – exactly what the world needs right now. If you destroy this forest then the co2 is released back into the atmosphere and the ability to process co2 in the future is diminished. I see no proposed replacement of any trees, but even if there was a proposal in this regard, saplings would not counterbalance the loss of mature trees in the fight against rising co2 levels.
The forest acts as a natural flood defence for Skelmorlie village, should you remove this you would be opening the whole village up to the potential for being flooded.
Under the Nature Conservation Scotland Act 2004 – Part 1 – there is a “Duty to further the conservation of biodiversity”. The North Ayrshire Local Biodiversity action plan states:
“In order to protect the well-being of present and future generations we must give special consideration to what might be irreversible changes to our environment. In short we need to carefully evaluate the decisions we take every day and take a precautionary approach to avoid loss and damage. “
This area of forest acts as a wildlife corridor connecting the mature woodlands on either site to each other. If you remove this wildlife corridor you are effectively isolating communities of animals and threatening biodiversity.
Additionally, bats are well known in this area, roosting in mature trees in this area. All bat species, their breeding sites and resting places are fully protected by law – they’re European protected species.
I understand the need for more housing but object strongly on behalf of future generations that we do not destroy any areas of mature forest. Alternative areas must be considered.”
If you plan on objecting too, make sure you do it quickly as the deadline is this Wednesday 5th June. If you don’t object – they don’t know that you care!
How to Object to This Plan
Please note that your personal details will not be published.
Submit your response online:
Visit www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk , click on Planning & Building Standards then search for “Skelmorlie”.
Click on the East of Golf Course Road 19/00322/PPPM entry
Email your comments directly to:
EMail to eplanning@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Include planning reference: 19/00322/PPPM Site to East of Golf Course Road Skelmorlie PA17.