Blacknest Park Tree Replacement Notice Berardi Witness Statement

8/12/2019 Blacknest Park Tree Replacement Notice Berardi Witness Statement

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STATEMENT by Dr. Andrea Berardi in support of the Royal Borough

of Windsor and Maidenhead Councils Tree Replacement Notice

relating to Blacknest Park, Whitmore Lane, Sunningdale, Berkshire,

issued on the 15thof January (Ref. B05/CS/OF/02/13/BlacknestPark)

1. I am a lecturer in Environmental Information Systems at The Open University, UK. Ihave a BSc.Hons in Ecology (Kings College London, 1992); an MSc in Nature

Conservation (University College London, 1995) and a Ph.D. in Woodland

Management and Modelling (University College London, 1999). My core area of

expertise is plant ecology and community-based natural resource management, with

over 20 years of practical fieldwork experience in the UK, Italy, Vietnam, Brazil and

Guyana.

2. I own Granny Kettle Wood, 5.5 acres of woodland that is directly adjacent to, andupstream of, the woodland area known as Blacknest Park. Together with over 60

volunteers from the local community, I have been undertaking intensive ecological

restoration work in the woodland corridor, including tree planting and the control of

invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam and Cabbage Skunk Weed. This has

involved liaising with adjacent landowners on a joint management strategy.

3. I was aware that the whole woodland corridor, including Granny Kettle Wood andBlacknest Park, is covered by a Woodland TreePreservation Order issued in 2004.

The removal of any tree, unless diseased or dangerous to the public, would require

permission from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

4. On July 14th2011, I had a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Matthew Lucas, a boardmember of 'Distinctive Properties Ascot Limited', the housing development company

which owns Blacknest Park, in order to agree on the need to remove invasive plant

species throughout the woodland corridor, including Blacknest Park. A Woodland

TPO does not prevent the removal of invasive species such as Rhododendron and

Laurel.

5. At the face-to-face meeting, Mr. Matthew Lucas showed a keen interest insupporting the ecological restoration, and I therefore became intimately acquainted

with the plant and woodland ecology of Blacknest Park, including the denselywooded Alder Carr that was clearly in an advanced stage of succession within the

silted up southern portion of the lake situated within Blacknest Park.

6. The area of Alder Carr comprised of approximately 20 to 30 mature Alder and Birchtrees (>75mm dbh), with a high density of Alder, Birch and Willow saplings. Trees

were present at a high density all the way up to the metal pilings dividing the silted

up area from the remainder of the lake. However, the herbaceous layer did include

Himalayan Balsam and Cabbage Skunk Weed amongst the high density of Soft Rush

(Juncus effusus).


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7. My intimate knowledge of the densely wooded nature of the site is corroborated bya series of aerial photographs and remotely sensed imagery dating back to the

1980s, including the following remotely sensed image taken by DigitalGlobe on the

20th

of March 2012:

8. In the DigitalGlobe image, one can clearly discern the high density of deciduousspecies dominating the Alder Carr, with a few Birch and Willow just coming into leaf

(light green). The evergreen species, chiefly Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), are only

present above the floodplain on the higher slopes to the west and south-east of the

Alder Carr.

9. In April 2012, Mr. Matthew Lucas came into Granny Kettle Wood and introduced meto two employees of Mid Kent Fisheries Ltd. and assured me that the company had

been employed to clear Rhododendron, Himalayan Balsam and Cabbage Skunk

Weed, and not to worry if I heard the sound of chainsaws.


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10.In May 2012, I witnessed the clearfelling of the trees in the Alder Carr and burning,with petrol, of large tree trunks on a pyre. On a subsequent weekend, when I

actually entered the site to confront the contractors, I witnessed a rescue operation

on a large excavator that had sunk into the silt. This excavator was clearly in the

process of grubbing out any remaining tree stumps, and in-filling, with silt and

construction waste, an area of what used to be Alder Carr approximately 40 m by 40

m in size directly adjacent to the metal pilings. The Google Earth image taken on

June 6th

2012 (copied below) clearly shows the tracks of the excavator used to grub

out the majority of stumps from the cleared area. However, the sinking of the

excavator may have prevented the completion of the grubbing out and photographs

of the remaining stumps are provided after paragraph 13.


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11.I reported this clear infringement of the Woodland TPO to Royal Borough of Windsorand Maidenhead Council's Tree Team ([email protected]) via e-mail. Other

witnesses also reported the infringement.

12.In February 2013, 'Distinctive Properties Ascot Limited' submitted a planningapplication to build a mansion on exactly the site of the clearfelling and infilling. It isabundantly clear that the Alder Carr was intentionally clearfelled by contractors

hired by the developers in order to facilitate their planning application for a mansion

on the cleared footprint. The developers arranged for an ecological survey, which

was submitted as part of the planning application, to take place on the site on the

28th

of May 2012, just a few weeks after the clearfelling. The ecological survey stated

that the site comprised "bare ground and of limited ecological value". This provides

ample evidence for the developer's motivations behind the clearfelling.

13.In April 2013 I re-entered the site to make a video documentary (just GoogleBlacknest Park YouTube) and the following photographic evidence of theclearfelling:


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14.In the current 'Distinctive Properties Ascot Limited' TRN appeal, they make a casethat there is limited evidence for the presence of trees on the site before April 2012,

and the "limited" evidence provided by the RBWM Council only points to 27 trees

being removed. This, apparently, does not warrant RBWM Councils TRN to replant

the cleared area with 1,280 trees. Evidence from a number of witnesses, previous

planning application reports, aerial photography and remotely sensed imageryclearly indicate that it is absolutely imperative to replant all 1,280 trees on exactly

the same footprint as the illegal clearfelling in order to promote the rapid recovery

of the Alder Carr.

15. The TPO designation for the site is a "Woodland TPO" rather than a TPO forindividual trees. This therefore includes trees at all stages of maturity, including

saplings, which will not have been measured in previous arboricultural surveys

(British Standard 5837:2012 'Trees in relation to design, demolition and

construction', and all previous version, require only tress with a >75mm diameter

above 1.5m ground level to be surveyed).

16.The cleared site was entirely covered by Alder, Willow and Birch in the early stagesof maturity (i.e. below 75mm in diameter), with between 20 and 30 emergent

mature trees of Alder and Birch >75mm in diameter. The clearfelled site did not

comprise of rhododendron or laurel, as these species cannot thrive in permanently

waterlogged conditions. The "one-for-one" replacement, requiring the replanting

with 1,280 sapling, therefore refers to the entirety of the cleared Alder, Willow and

Birch trees, including saplings, rather than just the 27 trees >75 in diameter.

17.Since April 2012, the developers are continuing to contravene the site's 'WoodlandTPO' by regularly brushcutting the recovering vegetation, as witnessed by severalindividuals and as can be seen on site by the even height of the cut vegetation. This


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is preventing the natural regeneration of the woodland, and it is therefore essential

that the recovery is facilitated by direct replanting with 1,280 saplings.

18.The 'wet woodland' corridor, comprising the illegally cleared area, comprised ofAlder, Willow and Birch is a BAP priority habitat, a Local Wildlife Site and is now

protected as a 'Green Corridor' within the Ascot, Sunningdale and SunninghillNeighbourhood Plan. The replanting of trees has to take place on exactly the same

footprint as the clearfelling in order to allow the full ecological recovery of this rare

wet woodland habitat and wildlife corridor. Replanting within other areas of the site

will clearly not provide the same ecological benefits.

19.The developers are appealing against RBWM Council's rejection of their planningapplication (PINS Appeal ref. APP/T0355/A/13/2206888). The public inquiry was

initiated on February 25th

2014, but adjourned until the outcome of this TRN appeal.

20.I am part of a Rule 6 Party participating within the public inquiry which comprisesSunningdale Parish Council, Ascot and Sunninghill Parish Council, Wildlife in Ascot,

Ascot Community Environment Network, and the Berkshire branch of the Campaign

to Protect Rural England. All these organisations are determined that this particular

developer does not set a precedent in the area, where woodlands protected by TPOs

are unlawfully clearfelled in order to facilitate housing development.

21.In conclusion, based on the weight of evidence indicating the presence of aflourishing wet woodland before illegal clearfelling, and a clear motivation by the

developer for undertaking the illegal clearfelling in order to facilitate the approval of

a planning application for a mansion on the site, I would strongly recommend that

RBWM Councils Tree Replacement Notice to replant 1280 specimens of Alder,

Willow, Birch and Oak, is upheld.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Andrea Berardi

Blacknest Park Tree Replacement Notice Berardi Witness Statement

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