A promising start to the new year….

We wanted our trusted and valued supporters to be the first to know that a meeting has taken place between Align (HS2’s new contractor responsible for the area around Leather Lane, including Ilona our beloved lone oak) and all stakeholders in Leather Lane. The purpose of the meeting was for Align to hear and discuss all viewpoints regarding the future of Leather Lane, to form a starting point for their design. It was made clear by Align that at this stage no decision on the final design for Leather Lane has been made. We attended the meeting along with our valued professional ecologist.

The meeting took place in a positive and open atmosphere. We felt it showed encouraging signs that Align will seek to meet HS2’s Environmental Statement commitment to design a solution that conserves the ecology at Leather Lane as much as possible. Align accepted that Leather Lane if of far greater importance for bats than was indicated in the environmental statement, as supported by our own bat report which confirms this (for further reading click HERE). We aren’t in a position to divulge details of the discussion yet as Align need to continue to work on their plans in preparation for a subsequent meeting to present their designs.

However, we continue to be cautiously optimistic that the outcome will be a positive one for the bat ecology and all wildlife at Leather Lane, as well as for Ilona the lone oak.

What we absolutely know for sure is that this meeting would never have taken place between the Leather Lane Conservation Group, Bucks Council and Align if it hadn’t been for the support of the 43,000 people who showed they cared about the ecology by signing our petition, and the generous contributions made on Gofundme that pay for the research, ecologists engineering and legal advice that our small team have needed to fight for these trees and the integrity of the holloway that provides vital east-west connectivity for wildlife across the HS2 track.

If you are able to continue to support us please do.

Please donate HERE