Updated - 26th January 2015
The saga over the development of Cinderford Linear Park, an important Forest of Dean site for Wood White, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper and the Forster moth continues. Firstly the bad news, in December the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government rejected the requests to 'call in' the development for a planning enquiry. The reasons cited was the call-in policy would only be used very selectively and the government wished to give more power to local councils and communities to determine planning issues. So I for one am not sure how serious it must be before these powers are exercised! I would have thought the issues surrounding Cinderford were serious enough.
On 14 January 2015, The Forester, the local paper in the Forest of Dean, headlined with an article explaining that Gloucestershire College had missed out on £5.5 million funding, earmarked to enable their move to Cinderford Linear Park. The funding was apparently only available during this financial year and the various legal challenges had delayed planning permission until too late. The article also highlighted the £14.5 million already spent by Forest of Dean District Council on 'legal fees, consultations and ecology works' and queried what had actually been achieved. Whether the loss of college funding will halt the development we await with interest. Meanwhile several thousand newts and frogs have already been removed from the site with more to go later in the year.
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If you read my earlier blog (below) on the threat to the Wood White colony in Cinderford Linear Park, you will know I was anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Forest of Dean District Council planning committee deliberations on 14th November 2014 concerning the proposed development of this important wildlife site.
Well, my worst fears came to pass and the committee approved the proposal for building more than 100 homes, a hotel, a college and industrial units. The meeting was reported as a fairly heated affair with feelings running high and the Chair issued several warnings that the public would be ejected.
More than 350 people had formally lodged objections to the plans and the case against the development was ably put forward by the Dean Natural Alliance, an umbrella organisation for several local groups. Normally the public speakers are allowed three minutes but this was extended to a massive five, though it is beyond me how this could ever be considered sufficient to put forward a detailed argument for rejection, of which the environmental case was just a part.
Two councillors also spoke against the development and there was a heated exchange between the Chair and one councillor. A short adjournment followed, during which several people left the Chambers appearing to be unhappy with Council proceedings. When the meeting resumed, the vote was cast 14 in favour, one against. So the fate of the Wood White, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper butterflies, the Forester moth and all the other wonderful wildlife at Cinderford appears to be sealed. Yet all is not quite lost, a petition with over 7,000 signatures, organised by the Dean Natural Alliance has been submitted to the Secretary of State, calling for an intervention on the planning decision. Although the petition has been submitted, it is still open for anyone to sign, so please make your voice heard. Let’s hope the Secretary of State agrees - this development needs to go to a planning inquiry.
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On Friday 14th November 2014, Forest of Dean District planning committee meet to consider a planning application for a major new development near Cinderford, Gloucestershire, which includes building more than 100 homes, a hotel, college and industrial units.
The development will no doubt help economically regenerate the area and Butterfly Conservation has no quarrel with that. However, we are extremely concerned about the chosen location – the Northern Quarter in Cinderford Linear Park.
This is a really important wildlife site and one of the jewel’s in Gloucestershire’s wildlife crown, supporting 13 species of bat, Great Crested Newt, Goshawk and Dormouse. The site also supports some rare and threatened butterflies, including Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary as well as moths such as the stunningly beautiful Forester. Of greatest significance though, is the presence of the Wood White butterfly in the Northern Quarter, one of our most threatened butterflies, with only 50-60 sites remaining in the entire country. The development will result in the destruction of breeding habitat for all these species.
The development has been at the heart of the council’s strategy and action plan for the area from the beginning. As far as I can see, no other locations have been given much consideration and the environmental statement prepared to assess the development’s potential impact was actually done at the wrong time of year for the species listed above – unsurprisingly none were reported as present!
Butterfly Conservation’s Gloucestershire Branch has been at the forefront of the fight against this development from the beginning and I have personally written six separate objections to the development in its various guises. Fortunately, we are not the only ones objecting – several local groups have come together as the Dean Natural Alliance to lead the protest. Several editions of a newsletter have been produced to keep local people informed, and a petition calling on the Secretary of State to hold a Public Enquiry into the proposal has been signed by over 5000 people.
Like many people on Friday, I will be hoping the planning committee see sense and reject the application. The council should then re-examine other possible locations and start talking to the various wildlife groups at an early stage to minimise the environmental impact. This happens in other parts of the country and ought to be happening right now in the Forest of Dean.
Please help us to save this precious place for the butterflies and other wildlife that depend on it by signing this petition which calls for the Secretary of State to hold a Public Enquiry into the proposals.
Dr Sam Ellis
Head of Regions