July

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. It is vitally important as the HS2 project has removed every other east-west wildlife corridor for at least 8km.

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 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.


September 

We held our last bat walk of the year on 30 September. One advantage of the nights drawing in earlier is that we had a good attendance by local children who were thrilled to see and hear our bats. Our bat walks promote the understanding of the importance of Bat ecology and conservation and raise awareness of our local bat population.

Feedback from our last bat walk from one of the children attending:

“It was really fun and everybody should do it. You see loads of bats!”

 

October

In late September 2023, the LLCG became aware that Align would be taking over construction at Leather Lane from EKFB. So, in preparation for the public announcement made in October, we wrote a letter to Align that we sent to them immediately the announcement became public knowledge. Read our letter HERE.

We requested in that letter that Align give serious consideration to our design proposals.

We have received positive feedback from Bucks Council about Align’s intentions to meet with LLCG in the very near future to discuss proposals for the Leather Lane over-road designs. We are looking forward to further engagement with Align.

 

October 29th 2023 - A year celebration  - Ilona still in the ground.

We invited all supporters of the campaign to save Ilona the Lone Oak to log in to The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory and comment. We reminded them that Align had recently taken over from EKFB and we can’t take it for granted that Align will know the depth of local feeling for Ilona and that we may be calling on them to write to Align to add their voices to the campaign again. A year ago over 200 residents wrote to HS2 CEO Mark Thurston to object to HS2's plan to fell Ilona for 'landscaping'. You can still add your comment HERE.

LLCG are very aware that nothing has been confirmed in writing about Ilona’s safety and therefore emailed Align about our concerns - informing them of the amount of energy and commitment that has been given by local residents, The Woodland Trust, Bucks councillors, Parish councillors and our MP Sarah Green into saving her and asking for commitment in return from them to read and respond to our options for alternatives to felling her as set out in our email to HS2 in September 2022. You can read our letter HERE.

A response was received on 27 October 2034 stating that Align are already fully aware of the issues surrounding Ilona and that at their opening meeting with Bucks Councillors they set it out as an early issue to resolve.

We are very cautiously optimistic about Ilona’s fate.

November

We made the local and international press!

On 3 November we were pleased to receive national press coverage in the venerable French broadsheet 'Le Monde'. A rough translation of the quote is below:

"Opponents of HS2 are also frustrated, with the section between London and Birmingham being retained [whilst the Birmingham to Manchester leg was scrapped], because earthworks for the future tracks are already underway to the north-west of London and two giant tunnel boring machines have already excavated more than half of the 15 kilometres of the railway tunnel beneath the Chilterns. Carol-Anne O'Callaghan has no words harsh enough to express her resentment. Along with other inhabitants of the Chilterns, this retired teacher fought for three years to preserve Leather Lane, an ancient holloway bordered by a hundred venerable oak trees, most of which were slated for felling because they were close to the high-speed line. It is around Leather Lane in the beautiful Bucks countryside that the novelist Roald Dahl drew inspiration for his novel 'Fantastic Mister Fox'. “The trees along the path form an exceptional habitat, sheltering up to eight species of bats, they serve as a maternity ward and sustenance zone” explains Carol-Anne."

Further local press coverage followed on 9 November when an article about Ilona was published in My Local News. The headline was: ‘ILONA THE TREE: Conservationists celebrate one-year anniversary’. You can read the full article HERE.

December

The bats of Leather Lane were hibernating but we continued to work hard to protect Leather Lane, Ilona and all our wildlife who depend on them. We continue to engage with Bucks Council and Align. Watch this space!

 

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.