Toot your Salute!
Today was the last time people will ever be able to walk or drive down Leather Lane in all its leafy oak-lined glory.
Toot your salute!
From tomorrow and all this week - if you are walking or driving down there, or passing by the top of Leather Lane, please take a moment to clap or whistle or toot your horn to pay homage to these silent heroes.
With our combined voices we have made a difference over the last few weeks; HS2 have agreed that 30% of the trees in the lane will be saved, with another 30% under review!
However, the first of the doomed trees are due to be felled this week. Say goodbye to their beauty with tooting a salute to them, as they are felled over the next few days. It is also a way of letting HS2 know that we, as a local community, are united in our outrage that so many oak trees are being needlessly felled for a temporary haulage site and the whole nature of the ancient lane destroyed, along with the wildlife and hedgerow that these trees are home to. Let’s try to save the remaining 30% under review! Make HS2 listen to us!
Toot your Salute!
Tomorrow at 10.30am, wherever you are, join us in whistling, singing, shouting, clapping or humming or tooting your car horn for a minute or so. The first trees will be felled tomorrow. They will hear you and so will those of us standing by watching them fall. Please show us your support.
Pay tribute to all the wildlife and trees being destroyed in Leather Lane and across the country for HS2.
Toot your Salute!
Below is a message from a resident on Potter Row containing important information regarding the wildlife of the Oak Trees:
'URGENT: The felling of these Oak Trees is due to commence from tomorrow (Monday 15th March). These beautiful Oak trees are well over 100 years old, and support myriad species of wildlife. There are dozens of cavities, split limbs and flaking pieces of bark, many absolutely ideal for roosting bats and nesting birds. Natural England have not granted any licenses to HS2 or contractors for works affecting bats at Leather Lane. Natural England do not hold any detailed survey information carried out by HS2. The bird nesting season is well underway, and there is a high probability of nesting Blue and Great Tits, potentially Treecreepers too. All these trees need a thorough, aerial investigation by a professional ecologist before any work can start. Please call on Natural England to halt works and insist on a full aerial survey on every tree carried out by a trained, qualified climbing ecologist. All of these cavities and other features need to be professionally inspected, and this cannot happen from the ground.
Contact details:
enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk
Tel. 03000603900
Please also call on Bat Conservation Trust to oversee the process.
investigations@bats.org.uk
Tel. 03451300228'
If we bombard these hotlines with urgent enquiries within the next few hours we have left, we may prevent even more wildlife and trees from being destroyed!
Attached is a poem my mum wrote last night. She says:
'I wanted to express my sadness and empathy for the lone oak
I took my last photograph of her last night in the sunset with the sad symbol of rebellion entangled in her branches and the HS2 paraphernalia surrounding her.
However this poem is for every tree that is about to fall.'