Dear Amber Valley Council, 

This petition is to inform you that many residents and visitors oppose the proposed housing site, Leafy Lane, for 50 houses, as shown on the AVBC Draft Policies for Local Plan 2021- 2038.

Alongside the AVBC Council Depot, the plan clearly shows a large area of Woodland on the map.

Leafy Lane Woodland is a biodiverse broadleaved habitat (a Priority habitat under Defra); it features many mature trees and has various fauna living and foraging, including various protected species such as Tawny Owls and Bats.

While it is an essential wildlife corridor for Heanor's busy town, Leafy Lane Woodland is a vital Carbon sink which helps combat pollution from the busy Hands Road and Ella Bank Road traffic, which is needed more than ever since this is an area fast becoming an urban sprawl due to the mounting number of housing developments over the last 10years resulting in the loss of many green trees, spaces and habitats.

Alongside its wildlife and biodiverse amenity, Leafy Lane Woodland significantly adds to the health and wellbeing of residents in the area; it is easily accessed via a footpath link from Hands Road to the award-winning Memorial Park on the other side, and according to some residents this footpath was officially opened in the early 90s by the Council for the public to use. This Woodland is the only natural habitat with broadleaved trees in Heanor East that locals can enjoy and experience on their doorsteps. While we have Shipley Park, for many living in the area, such as the elderly and disabled, 1.6 miles is too far to walk to experience the joys of nature. 

40+ residents on and around Leafy Lane, Hands Road, Lower Claramount, Castle Court, Ella Bank Road and Westfield, which border the land, have gardens and living space looking out onto Leafy Lane Woodland; these residents enjoy the privacy, quietness, health and wellbeing and natural benefits from this natural habitat, felling any of the Woodland in front of their homes would be a nightmare scenario which is already causing great stress to many from the idea of it. Not only this, many are worried about the consequences, should trees need to be removed, for example, intrusive coal mining surveys, which come with combustion, subsidence and gas risks, especially as there are several coal seams close by to residential properties and not just on the depot. 

While Leafy Lane is Flood Zone 1 on an aquifer made of Sandstone, we believe removing mature trees will increase the risk of ground heave and flooding to neighbouring properties, especially as there are multiple ground levels on a hill; Lower Claramount and Breach Road already have a history of flooding. We believe even the smallest risk is still a risk to neighbouring properties which outweighs any benefit of 50 houses on and around this Woodland. 

As Leafy Lane Woodland is classed as a Priority Habitat Inventory - Deciduous Woodland with High Spatial Priority for Woodland Improvement (England) under Defra, the favoured outcome would be for Amber Valley Borough Council to remove the Leafy Lane Woodland area from all future housing development plans.

Residents would like to see Leafy Lane Woodland enhanced and improved either managed by Amber Valley Borough Council themselves with community involvement or with the help of organisations such as Forestry England / the Woodland Trust. 

https://www.forestryengland.uk/woodland-creation

Leafy Lane is a vital amenity in our community; not only does it act against flooding and carbon emissions, but it also helps break up the urban sprawl and gives Heanor East a vibrant and welcoming appeal, increasing people's sense of well-being. 

Please consider this petition and all of the updated posts attached to it. 

I welcome any opportunity to work with AVBC, any tree organisation and the community to help ensure this hidden gem is protected and maintained for many years.

Kind regards,

Rachael Bullock and everyone that has signed this petition.


--------------------

Dear Residents and Friends,

Amber Valley Borough Council has proposed a large area of Land, both Brownfield and Greenspace Woodland off Leafy Lane, for 50 affordable houses in their new local plan.

Leafy Lane Woodland is one of the last remaining Broadleaved Woodland Green spaces in the Heanor East area near Heanor town centre, and we are asking for your help to save it. 

About Leafy Lane Woodland
Anyone who sees the new local plan proposals would automatically assume that Land for housing on Leafy Lane consists of the well-used AVBC depot and a small parcel of Land around it; however, the plan map shows a red bounding box around the Woodland too!

If you have ever driven or walked along Hands Road towards William Gregg, up towards the Town Centre, or visited Heanor Memorial Park, you may have noticed vibrant tree canopies in the distance; this is Leafy Lane Woodland! 
This vibrant Woodland is surrounded by over 30 houses around Hands Road, Ellabank Road, and Leafy Lane; it also links to the award-winning Heanor Memorial Park.

This Woodland is a significant amenity to our town centre. It is visually attractive around Hands Road, Ella Bank and Westfield Avenue and Memorial Park, and it acts as a carbon sink near our busy, polluted town centre roads; it is also home to many wildlife species, including some protected species.

Linked to the award-winning Heanor memorial park via a footpath used for over 30 years from Hands Road, Leafy Lane Woodland is an important wildlife haven where residents and visitors to the area can walk through the Woodland and park and be part of nature.

History 
The Land at Leafy Lane, including the depot and the Woodland, has historical ties to the Old Vicarage / Rectory between the 1870s - 1950s. The Leafy Lane access road, shared with two other bungalows and the council depot, has mature trees lining the Lanes and dates back to the old vicarage. 

The Land is also linked to the old ghost story of Sookey and the Old Hollow (now called Sookies Hollow). It is said that parts of these Woods are haunted - "The dark and gloomy Victorian vicarage between Hands Road and the white house would do nothing to reassure people taking a shortcut through Sukey's Hollow on a wild, wintry evening." 

https://www.heanorhistory.org.uk/v2ghost_stories.html

Alongside greenspace and trees, Heanor East has lost so much history cause of new housing over the years; while it may only be a story, it is well known amongst residents. Building houses on the Woodland, where Sookie's Hollow story is linked would be taking away another piece of history from the community. 

Essential Wildlife Habitat
Leafy Lane Woodland is an essential Wildlife Habitat and is home to a wide variety of Flora and Fauna, as mentioned in one of the AVBC reports : 

Heanor Memorial Park Amber Valley Borough Council Management Plan 2015 - 2020 - "Natural features, Wildlife and flora - Adjacent to Heanor Memorial Park, there is a small area of Woodland, which has woodland species within it; these species of fauna migrate into the park. The pond has aquatic life such as newts, frogs and toads, damsel flies and on occasion dragonflies."

Leafy Lane Woodland is known to have Bats, Tawney Owls, Sparrow Hawks, and various mammals. Chopping down mature broadleaved trees for housing would significantly harm our local Wildlife, which relies on this Land to survive the forever-increasing urban landscape. 

Climate change emergency
The Woodland on Leafy Lane helps ensure our air is clean by soaking up pollution, especially from the traffic heading to and from Heanor's busy town centre nearby Hands Road, Ella Bank Road and The Memorial Park.

As the planet heats up, the Government is urging Councils to plant more trees to help combat climate change. Proposing Council-owned Woodland for housing is hypocritical and irresponsible, especially when we should be retaining the trees we already have and increasing the number of trees in our area.

As a drainage brook runs through this aquifer land made of Sandstone, the trees help prevent flooding, especially to nearby properties near Hands Road's bottom of the hill. 

Not a Viable Option for Affordable Housing 
The proposed local plan voted on by the Borough Council on 8th June mentions Affordable Housing at a rate of 40% on large developments subject to it being 'viable' economically for the developer to provide that number. We believe this Land is not a viable option. 

Leafy Lane sits in a high-risk coal mining area and has a history of coal mining, with parts of the Land, including the Woodland, being worked for deep and shallow coal, as shown on the Coal Authority website with its multiple coal mine seams and outcrops. While it was in 1903, the Rectory had a history of mining subsidence, and as it was a council depot afterwards, it is unclear if this Land has ever been rectified and what risks this could pose to neighbouring properties should this Land be disturbed' and if there are any further faults nearby like the ones shown on an old coal map near the depot.

Most of the homes around Leafy Lane and Hands Road are band D - F; this includes the newly built properties and those facing Woodland. Developers will likely see these house bands and prices and all the risks involved and use it as an excuse to reduce the number of affordable houses as they may say it is not economically viable; this, in turn, will be no benefit to the community and a significant loss to our woodland trees, Wildlife and residential amenities. The average price for the new properties in this area is around 300k-400k! Perhaps affordable for the few but not the many! 

No Tree protections in Place
These trees have no real protection; not one tree has a TPO. As Amber Valley Council owns this Land and has looked for developers to buy it in the past years, we believe that the Council are essentially giving developers the green light to buy, fell and build on the Land, and surely should any ground investigations be needed, trees would likely need to be felled. If this isn't the case, why is the Woodland shown on the local plan map?

Ground Stability and flooding 
The houses surrounding Leafy Lane Woodland are at varying elevated levels; many residents surrounding the Woodland are concerned that any removal of trees for development could cause significant damage to their land/properties, such as ground heave or subsidence.

As trees also help against flooding, something Heanor is familiar with, losing any of these trees would increase the flood risk. 

According to the Woodland Trust: "Rain hits the ground at higher speeds where there is a lack of tree cover. A canopy of leaves, branches and trunks slows down the Rain before it hits the ground simply by getting in the way. This is called interception. The interception of rainfall by trees can spread the effect of a rain storm over a longer time period. This allows some of the water (studies suggest up to 30%) to evaporate back into the atmosphere directly from the canopy without ever reaching the ground.

The tree root systems help water penetrate deeper into the soil faster under and around trees; this means less surface run-off and more water storage in the soil."Removing the trees could cause significant issues with flooding for all of the properties surrounding the Woodland, especially as the drainage brook runs through the Land. Again this could also cause subsidence or landslides for those bordering properties at higher levels and have gardens that slope down towards the Woodland.

Knotweed 
AVBC has been treating an area of knotweed at the edge of the Woodland near the depot/park (Not neighbouring properties); in my last report under the FOI dated July 2022, AVBC informed me that they haven't completely irradiated the knotweed and parts are still growing vigorously.

As even the smallest root fragment can grow a new plant, meaning it can spread easily, it can be challenging and expensive to manage. We are concerned that should this not be treated in full or correctly, it could spread to existing properties if it has to be excavated.

Broken pledge
At the last local elections, AVBC pledged to build on brownfield land before greenfield. 

According to Shela's plan on the AVBC website, 74 homes have been revised to 50. However, it describes that Leafy Lane is suitable for 50 houses while retaining the council depot. 

This report is suggestive that the Brownfield land will be continued to be used by AVBC depot and the Greenfield woodland will be built on; there is no other land available on the Land for 50 houses... We believe that if AVBC goes ahead with this plan for their own Land, then they would be breaking their own pledge. 
Ref - AVBC-2017-0014

How can you help?
Local Councils up and down the UK have proposed small pockets of Woodland for housing, these pockets eventually add up to forests, and as it takes between 30-40 years for trees to be mature enough to soak up carbon, no amount of new trees will mitigate the governments net zero policy; this is also resulting in urban sprawl and loss of habitats. 

If you would like to help us try and protect Leafy Lane Woodland, please sign this petition so that we can submit this as an opposition to 50 houses being built on Woodland to AVBC as part of the new local plan consultation.