Our year continues…..
The rest of 2022, but what awaits Leather Lane in 2023…
July
Campaign Founder Carol-Anne was awarded the Guardian Angel award in recognition of her tireless work to protect Leather Lane and Ilona the Oak. As her ‘prize treat’, courtesy of the Guardian, Carol-Anne chose to highlight the plight of bats all along the HS2 railway and the need to protect their flightlines and wildlife commuting corridors, by zip-wiring dressed as a bat with Lindsey Spinks from Lawyers for Nature.
August
Local residents continued to attend and enjoy monthly Leather Lane Bat Walks run by the Campaign team throughout the bat season.
These over-subscribed and informative bat walks have proven extremely popular and have raised awareness of the rich variety of bat species and the importance of their conservation amongst the local community. The bat walks have given the Campaign the opportunity to demonstrate the vital importance of Leather Lane to the bat population. Attendees have seen the large number of bat species using Leather Lane with their own eyes and ears.
September
In the midst of our efforts to protect Leather Lane, we have also spear-headed the campaign to save Ilona the Lone Oak from needless felling. We provided a four-page thoroughly researched and detailed letter to HS2, outlining alternatives to felling this ancient category A oak tree. HS2 have to follow their own precautionary principle, which includes the mitigation hierarchy, embedded in law. This means that no tree should be felled if there is a viable alternative. Over 200 of you responded to the call to hold HS2 to account to this principle by writing to HS2 CEO Mark Thurston, and it worked! HS2 are currently reviewing their landscaping designs as a direct result of your action! We are still awaiting details of the revised designs.
October
Ilona the lone oak gained even more support this month, along with recognition from the Woodland Trust. To celebrate her registration with the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Inventory and also in recognition of the campaign’s ongoing success, a group of local residents (past and present), councillors and representatives gathered at Ilona to listen to speeches, reflections and poetry.
Letters of Support for the campaign were received from the Woodland Trust, Sarah Green MP, Great Missenden Parish Council and Bucks Councillor Jane MacBean. These letters were sent to HS2, along with transcripts of interviews from local residents, to highlight the strength of feeling in the community for Ilona; not only for her intrinsic value as an ancient oak tree but as part of the local heritage and landscape.
November
The campaign have not only monitored the well-being of bats throughout the year but all the wildlife who live and forage at Leather Lane. Deer, tawny owls, red kites, badgers, woodpeckers and pheasants use Leather Lane as a vital part of their habitat; to feed, shelter, breed,commute and provide connectivity. This month we saw the bats go into hibernation as other animals dug down deep for the winter.
December
The snow fell in mid-December upon Ilona and the remaining oaks as the bats slept and the wildlife sheltered amongst the trees and hedgerows. Leather Lane remains a safe-haven for another winter- but what will they wake up to?
With your help we can protect the wildlife in Leather Lane by campaigning for a green wildlife crossing. This will ensure that when the bats awaken in Spring, there will be no more fragmentation of their commuting and feeding corridor. With your help we can make sure that Ilona’s leaves come into bud again this spring and that she lives on as an icon for generations of local people yet to come.
The campaign thank-you sincerely for everything you have done to support us through 2022. Please continue to support us in 2023, as there is so much we have to maintain and monitor in order to continue the protection of the oaks and wildlife of Leather Lane and Ilona this year. We know it is a difficult time for everyone at the moment but we really need your help.