We wanted to keep our valued supporters up to date and share some exciting news and developments.

The Weather

It hasn’t been very kind to us or the bats of late and for the first time we had to cancel our last bat walk as the forecast was so dreadful. It makes it hard for the bats to fly and forage when it is raining so they have been having a difficult summer too.

However, the sun is shining again and we are hopeful that our next bat walk will be able to go ahead.

Please do come along, they are a fantastic opportunity to see the Lane and our bats for yourselves. Book your tickets here.

Sarah Green MP

Sarah has long been a supporter of our work and we are grateful that she referenced both beautiful Ilona, who still stands firm in the ground, and Leather Lane in her annual report (no political affiliation).

Our new Campaign

We are campaigning for a green overbridge (where the new lane crosses over the HS2 tracks), with planting, to reconnect the wildlife corridor and encourage wildlife and bats to continue to commute and forage along the lane, while still continuing the campaign to have the new bridge to the north of the existing lane, and so preserve the remaining trees in order to prevent further fragmentation of the corridor.

The green bridge is justified by the report on our bat data which you can read here. The report shows that the lane is a site of regional importance, and probably a juvenile sustenance zone, near to a maternity roost. This was not recognised in the HS2 Environmental Statement.

We are asking for a commitment from HS2 with regards the disused parts of the current Leather Lane - we are asking them to consider setting up Leather Lane as a bat SAC (Special Area of Conservation) - accessible to local community groups  - which would help HS2 to meet it’s commitment to protecting biodiversity. For more information see here.

A last plea

For several years, we have campaigned to preserve the wildlife corridor formed by a line of oak trees, planted beside Leather Lane by the Liberty family. This is now one of the last remaining East-West links across the HS2 route, and so heavily used by wildlife, particularly bats. The HS2 design specifies a new bridge, to be constructed on the south side of the lane, which would pass through the tree corridor twice. 

So far, the Campaign has

Paid a Consultant Engineer to design a bridge to the North side of the lane, which allows all the remaining 87 trees to be preserved.
Raised over £25,000 (by a crowdfunder) to pay for this.
Held a meeting with EKFB (the HS2 contractors) and Bucks councillors, at which it was established that our bridge design meets the required specifications.
Conducted a bat survey over many nights, before and after some of the trees were felled, and paid for this to be analysed. The endangered Barbastelle bat was recorded on numerous occasions, along with 6 other species.
Drawn attention to the failure of the contractor to implement the required tree protection measures for the trees to be retained; this has now been rectified.
Gathered 43,000 signatures on a petition to save these trees.
Our immediate objective is to put pressure on EKFB to adopt our design, and failing that, to persuade Bucks Council to refuse permission for the south side bridge. This is now possible, as it has been shown that the development “could reasonably be carried out elsewhere”.

Engineers and Ecologists are not cheap!  

Please contribute to our Crowdfunder here, and help us bring the campaign to save Leather Lane to a successful conclusion.