Representation by The Woodland Trust (The Woodland Trust)
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The Woodland Trust welcomes the opportunity to register a representation to the following project. We hold serious concerns with regards to the potential impact to two areas of woodland designated as ancient on Natural England’s Ancient Woodland Inventory, as well as numerous trees recognised as ancient/veteran on the Ancient Tree Inventory. Our concerns relate to the following elements of the project: • The Two Villages Bypass will likely result in the direct loss of several ancient and veteran trees, as well as detrimental impact to the adjacent Foxburrow’s Wood ASNW. • The Sizewell Link Road is likely to result in the direct loss of a veteran oak tree. Whilst the Trust acknowledges that there will be no direct loss of ancient woodland to facilitate the proposed Two Villages Bypass, we are concerned that Foxburrow’s Wood - which is adjacent to the scheme boundary - will be subject to noise and dust pollution during construction. As such, the Woodland Trust recommends that a buffer zone of 30 metres is implemented to mitigate for the above impacts during construction. This is in line with Natural England’s Standing Advice which states: “For ancient woodlands, you should have a buffer zone of at least 15 metres to avoid root damage. Where assessment shows other impacts are likely to extend beyond this distance, you’re likely to need a larger buffer zone.” Furthermore, several ancient and veteran trees are recorded within close proximity or within the works boundary. The Trust requests that all ancient and veteran trees are retained, and adequately protected during construction in line with Natural England’s Standing Advice which states: “A buffer zone around an ancient or veteran tree should be at least 15 times larger than the diameter of the tree. The buffer zone should be 5m from the edge of the tree’s canopy if that area is larger than 15 times the tree’s diameter.” In summary, the Woodland Trust objects to the proposed development on the grounds of impact to ancient woods and trees. We hope our comments are of use to you.