A Year In Review
As the year draws to a close we reflect back on a busy year for our group and Leather Lane. The year started quietly. The bats were in hibernation and the lane was quiet.
January
We wrote to Mark Thurston, then CEO of HS2 sharing some of the comments made by Ilona’s supporters on The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory. Mark did not respond!
February
We stood alongside the Wildlife Trusts in challenging HS2’s ‘No net loss’ assertion. HS2 criticised the Wildlife Trusts’s report as based on ‘desk-based research’. A criticism we found galling given that it was due to HS2’s own lack of on the ground ecological surveys that barbastelle were not identified on Leather Lane during the Preliminary Stages of their work.
March
We spoke at the Great Missenden Parish Council meeting to update the Council on our work.
April
The bats come out of hibernation. With the start of the new bat season LLCG began monitoring bat activity in the lane and collecting data by placing professional ecological standard spectrum bat monitors at the track trace ‘gap’ and further down the lane at the trees still under threat.
May
In May 2023 the LLCG presented a detailed report to Bucks Council ecology team, as agreed at the meeting with EKFB (outgoing HS2 subcontractors working at LL) in May 2022. The report highlighted how important it is that there is no further fragmentation of the wildlife corridor at Leather Lane. It showed elevated numbers of barbastelle bats identified in late summer each year, indicating that Leather Lane could potentially be a juvenile sustenance zone (‘JSZ’), providing a vital feeding habitat for young bats, who only travel 1km from maternity roost when born in late summer. Further collection of Bat data over the next 3 years will provide evidence of this as a trend shown in results. To destroy a JSZ would have a national impact on the UK species numbers. Click HERE: https://saveleatherlane-wp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bioscan-Report-April-2023-No-Results.pdf to read our report in full. To date, no such bat data report has been presented to Bucks Council by EKFB, despite numerous verbal and written assurances from EKFB that it was being prepared for presentation. Despite continuous calls for a follow up meeting between all parties, from Bucks Council, the Parish Council and LLCG, EKFB failed to commit to a meeting date.
June
On Saturday 10 June we held our first bat walk of the year. Our attendees were thrilled to see and hear the famous Leather Lane bats for themselves.
July
In July 2023 the LLCG presented its campaign for a green bridge at Leather Lane to ensure that connectivity is restored for all wildlife, particularly bats, once the over-road is built at Leather Lane. It is vitally important as the HS2 project has removed every other east-west wildlife corridor for at least 8km. Find out more HERE: https://saveleatherlane-wp.org.uk/a-green-bridge-for-leather-lane
August
Our wettest bat walk ever! Having had to cancel our July walk due to poor weather, we went ahead with our walk at the end of August and the bats (including barbastelle) put on a great show for us in spite of the rain! We launched our Green Bridge Campaign, calling on HS2 to make the overbridge (where the new lane crosses over the HS2 tracks), green, with planting, to reconnect the wildlife corridor and encourage wildlife and bats to continue to commute and forage along the lane. To read more click HERE: https://saveleatherlane-wp.org.uk/a-green-bridge-for-leather-lane We asked 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 conservation area - accessible to local community groups - which would help HS2 to meet it’s commitment to protecting biodiversity. For more information see HERE: https://saveleatherlane-wp.org.uk/next-steps
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 7 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.
Registered Ilona with the Ancient Tree Inventory.
Organised a letter writing campaign to Mark Thurston (former HS2 CEO) to object to the felling of the iconic Ilona the lone oak, which has resulted in Ilona remaining in the ground to date.
We continue to collect bat data, hold bat walks for local people to attend and we are campaigning for a green overbridge to be part of the design.
Engineers and Ecologists are not cheap!
Please contribute to our Crowdfunder, and help us bring our mission to save Leather Lane, and Ilona to a successful conclusion.
We hope you have a restful Christmas holiday and thank you for your continuous support as we look forward to what the new year brings.
-The Leather Lane Conservation Group.