There is important new information on the Stop Press page.
Loxley Common and Wadsley Common form a beautiful green space on the fringe of Sheffield. Those of us who use the Commons feel blessed to have such a lovely space to walk, so close to our homes. Yet it is heartbreaking to see what has been done to the Commons recently and to think that even worse is to come.
Sheffield City Council Rangers have decided that the area needs to be ‘managed’. This management has already led to the felling of hundreds of lovely native trees which were growing there naturally, including oak and beech as well as the silver birch which they say are their target. They now have a licence to chop down another 2800 trees by November 2012. At least 2000 trees have already been felled, many of them since 1st March when all felling and clearing should have stopped to allow birds to nest. Note that this number is for healthy mature trees only; small or diseased trees can be felled without a licence. See Ecology
They insist that local people approve of what they are doing, despite vigorous protests at every stage of the process. We hope that having looked at this website you will feel that the preservation of the trees is something worth fighting for. On the Contacts page we have given you the information you need to raise the issue with those who are the ‘key players’. It is also worth writing to letters pages of our local papers. www.thestar.co.uk/yoursay.aspx or www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/yoursay.aspx
The Rangers need to know that there is a groundswell of public opposition to their plans if they are to be influenced.
We are not alone in suffering in this way. It appears that similar things are happening in other parts of Sheffield and around the country. One person who has documented all of this is Mark Fisher. It is worth going to his website. www.self-willed-land.org.uk