Hello everyone,

You may be aware that following pressure from local residents, the Council placed a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on woodland at the top of Grays Lane / West Hill. Well now there is a Planning Meeting on Wednesday,  24th Feb, which is proposing to remove the TPO and to cover just 3 trees. Obviously this will destroy the woodland and wildlife habitat. 

The Council has been emailed with our opposition to the cancellation of the TPO but it would add weight if individuals also emailed their opposition. I know it is short notice, the meeting is this Wednesday evening at 7.30pm, but any simple message would be welcome!

We have stressed how important this woodland is for wildlife, including invertebrates, how deer and badgers are frequent visitors, how bats are present, etc. Also, the environmental impact is significant. A young wood such as this can lock in 400+ tonnes of carbon per hectare in trees, roots, deadwood, leaves and soil. So the destruction of the wood will increase the carbon footprint and go against any Climate Change Policy.   

So please email the planning officers, see below, and also your local councilor, you can find their email address here:

https://democracy.north-herts.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1

The planning officers are:

tom.rea@north-herts.gov.uk

louise.symes@north-herts.gov.uk

simon.ellis@north-herts.gov.uk

ruth.brown@north-herts.gov.uk

daniel.allen@north-herts.gov.uk

val.bryant@north-herts.gov.uk

morgan.derbyshire@north-herts.gov.uk

mike.hughson@north-herts.gov.uk

tony.hunter@north-herts.gov.uk

david.levett@north-herts.gov.uk

ian.moody@north-herts.gov.uk

sue.ngwala@north-herts.gov.uk

sean.prendergast@north-herts.gov.uk

mike.rice@north-herts.gov.uk

tom.tyson@north-herts.gov.uk

Many thanks for your help..

Phil