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Woodland 'sale' protest grows
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| Protesters against the sale |
RESIDENTS have set up a protest group to try to stop town councillors selling off neighbouring woodland.
Homeowners in One Tree Lane, Beaconsfield, are objecting to Beaconsfield Town Council putting the plot on the market to raise funds. This week the group launched a website in opposition.
Rorie Devine, 41, an IT director who lives in the lane, said: "For the last 40 years it has been allowed to grow into woodland. This is beautiful woodland with wildlife. My son plays in the woodland and loves the wildlife. There's a family of foxes in there. We've seen deer and woodpeckers."
The married father-of-one added: "The local residents are outraged, and have formed an action group called Save One Tree Lane' to fight the proposals."
Andrew Jackson, 37, a resident of Ledborough Gate, supports the campaign. Mr Jackson, a married father-of-two, said: "We go down there with the children and they take their bikes. It's nice to stay away from the roads.
"It's a bit of public space that is being taken away. I don't know if it's for the good of the town. If people are wanting to sell off parts of their back gardens you can't really object to that, but it's public land."
| “We go down there with the children and they take their bikes. It’s nice to stay away from the roads." | | Andrew Jackson, 37, resident of Ledborough Gate |
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The group is also concerned about one of the council's options to sell part of One Tree Meadow public space next to the plot to gain access to it.
Councillor Richard Keith, who is chairman of the council's finance and general works committee, said the council had sought legal advice after applications in the area dating back two years.
He said: "We came to the conclusion we had a piece of land only serving a benefit as garden extensions and it wasn't justified. It's a dog walking area and private gardens.
"If there's a sale and if it's to a developer he will have to ask planning permission and will probably be required to produce an environmental impact assessment."
He added: "The money will be used for the benefit of the town. The mayor at the town meeting talked about improvements to the town hall to make it more user friendly and we have had meetings to discuss playgrounds."
He added: "We will consider these offers when they come in and they should all be in by June."
The residents' website can be viewed at www.saveonetreelane.com.
8:14am Saturday 10th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: SBJones, Wycombe on 8:40am Sat 10 May 08
soon there wont be any woodland for councils to sell off, these councils are so short-sighted Beaconsfield needs to keep some kind of green space its vanishing so fast. an option would be for the rather rich people of that area to club together and buy it themselves!
soon there wont be any woodland for councils to sell off, these councils are so short-sighted Beaconsfield needs to keep some kind of green space its vanishing so fast. an option would be for the rather rich people of that area to club together and buy it themselves!
Posted by: SBJones, Wycombe on 8:54am Sat 10 May 08
im sorry but i have to comment again, i just find this such an outrage that we have no laws to protect smaller spaces like this woodland being sold off by wasters in the council who couldnt care less about the wonder and beauty of the area. Fight this proposal all the way i am behind you 100%. Your mayor also seems a snake in the grass if he cant see past the money side of things. im disgusted that this is happening.
im sorry but i have to comment again, i just find this such an outrage that we have no laws to protect smaller spaces like this woodland being sold off by wasters in the council who couldnt care less about the wonder and beauty of the area. Fight this proposal all the way i am behind you 100%. Your mayor also seems a snake in the grass if he cant see past the money side of things. im disgusted that this is happening.
Posted by: Mario, Bucks on 10:52am Sat 10 May 08
I agree that local residents should club together and fund the acquisition.
The land is not public in the sense of a town park ,and only benefits a chosen few.
I agree that local residents should club together and fund the acquisition.
The land is not public in the sense of a town park ,and only benefits a chosen few.
Posted by: OneArmJack on 1:31pm Sat 10 May 08
This has nothing to do with saving green space for the public and everything to do with three or four families upset that they'll lose part of their private gardens, for which they pay a nominal rent.
"Andrew Jackson, 37, a resident of Ledborough Gate, ... said: "We go down there with the children and they take their bikes." Yet according to the website - "There is no access to the woodland currently other than through the residents back gardens.", so we must deduce that Mr Jackson is a friend of one those who will lose part of their garden. Oh, and the website is registered to Rorie Devine who lives at 3 One Tree Lane who, yes, you guessed it, has a garden that backs on to the woodland.
Look at HP9 2BU on Google Maps - there are already houses immediately next to the woodland, and a large area of woodland and fields to the other side. This is just NIMBYism at its finest.
This has nothing to do with saving green space for the public and everything to do with three or four families upset that they'll lose part of their private gardens, for which they pay a nominal rent.
"Andrew Jackson, 37, a resident of Ledborough Gate, ... said: "We go down there with the children and they take their bikes." Yet according to the website - "There is no access to the woodland currently other than through the residents back gardens.", so we must deduce that Mr Jackson is a friend of one those who will lose part of their garden. Oh, and the website is registered to Rorie Devine who lives at 3 One Tree Lane who, yes, you guessed it, has a garden that backs on to the woodland.
Look at HP9 2BU on Google Maps - there are already houses immediately next to the woodland, and a large area of woodland and fields to the other side. This is just NIMBYism at its finest.
Posted by: Michelle, Beaconsfield on 8:15pm Sat 10 May 08
There are two issues here - part of One Tree Meadow is for sale which is used by the public for walking dogs, playing football, family picnics, cycle rides, by brownies, cubs etc and also there is some woodland behind the houses also for sale.
So there are two areas of land for sale, the sale of part of the Meadow which the public use is the most shocking and this is the land that Andrew Jackson is referring to.
There are two issues here - part of One Tree Meadow is for sale which is used by the public for walking dogs, playing football, family picnics, cycle rides, by brownies, cubs etc and also there is some woodland behind the houses also for sale.
So there are two areas of land for sale, the sale of part of the Meadow which the public use is the most shocking and this is the land that Andrew Jackson is referring to.
Posted by: FromTheActionGroup, Beaconsfield on 9:02pm Sat 10 May 08
I would actually say this is NIMBYISM at its very best.
Local people are standing up to the Town Council who have forgotten that they are elected to represent the wishes of the people at the council, and have started representing the wishes of the council to the people.
As Michelle says, the council are proposing selling two different parts of land (and the map at www.saveonetreelane.
com might help make that clearer).
1) Nearly ½ acre of the One Tree Meadow [bold]public space[/bold] .
2) ¾ acre of [bold]woodland[/bold] currently being used as back gardens.
The One Tree Action group opposes the sale of the public space for fairly obvious reasons, I would have thought. If we let the Town Council set this ½ acre now, how safe would the rest of the public space be? How safe would any public space be in Beaconsfield? We elect our Town Councillors to protect us from this kind of proposal, not facilitate it.
The destruction of the woodland being used as gardens is opposed solely on environmental grounds. It really is beautiful mature woodland that is home to a huge range of local plants, trees, and animals.
The action group has formally proposed to the Town Council that this woodland be incorporated into the One Tree Meadow public space to both preserve it and increase access to it. We have had no response to that suggestion - I guess because the council wouldn’t make any money out of that, and they are actually trying to sell that part of the public space as well!
The reaction to this proposal has already been overwhelming, and the Town Council will very soon realise that selling public space to developers is not the sort of thing the people of Beaconsfield want to happen.
At the end of the day, ignoring the wishes of the people that elected you is a very dangerous course of action for any elected body.
I would actually say this is NIMBYISM at its very best.
Local people are standing up to the Town Council who have forgotten that they are elected to represent the wishes of the people at the council, and have started representing the wishes of the council to the people.
As Michelle says, the council are proposing selling two different parts of land (and the map at www.saveonetreelane.
com might help make that clearer).
1) Nearly ½ acre of the One Tree Meadow
public space .
2) ¾ acre of
woodland currently being used as back gardens.
The One Tree Action group opposes the sale of the public space for fairly obvious reasons, I would have thought. If we let the Town Council set this ½ acre now, how safe would the rest of the public space be? How safe would any public space be in Beaconsfield? We elect our Town Councillors to protect us from this kind of proposal, not facilitate it.
The destruction of the woodland being used as gardens is opposed solely on environmental grounds. It really is beautiful mature woodland that is home to a huge range of local plants, trees, and animals.
The action group has formally proposed to the Town Council that this woodland be incorporated into the One Tree Meadow public space to both preserve it and increase access to it. We have had no response to that suggestion - I guess because the council wouldn’t make any money out of that, and they are actually trying to sell that part of the public space as well!
The reaction to this proposal has already been overwhelming, and the Town Council will very soon realise that selling public space to developers is not the sort of thing the people of Beaconsfield want to happen.
At the end of the day, ignoring the wishes of the people that elected you is a very dangerous course of action for any elected body.
Posted by: Malc London, Gerrards Cross on 11:08am Sun 11 May 08
Once it's gone, it's gone forever. For the sake of people living long after we have gone, we MUST protect our open spaces.
Once it's gone, it's gone forever. For the sake of people living long after we have gone, we MUST protect our open spaces.
Posted by: Helen123, Beaconsfield on 12:27pm Mon 12 May 08
OneArmJack - you've misread the website. There is access to the meadow and woodland from both the Amersham Road and from One Tree Lane, but this is only pedestrian access. The only viable vehicle access would be through One Tree Lane, which would clearly impact on the traffic on the surrounding roads as well. It's not an extension of private back gardens any more than farmland would be - the space is used and enjoyed by a lot of people, and building on it would be a crime.
OneArmJack - you've misread the website. There is access to the meadow and woodland from both the Amersham Road and from One Tree Lane, but this is only pedestrian access. The only viable vehicle access would be through One Tree Lane, which would clearly impact on the traffic on the surrounding roads as well. It's not an extension of private back gardens any more than farmland would be - the space is used and enjoyed by a lot of people, and building on it would be a crime.
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