Largest single threat to England’s ancient woodland goes to public inquiry

PRECIOUS: Oaken Wood near Maidstone is home to many important species of wildlife

Area the size of 30 football pitches could be destroyed

August 2011: A controversial plan to extend a Kent quarry has been called in for public inquiry.

The application to extend the quarry into Oaken Wood near Maidstone would, if passed, see the destruction of an area about the size of 30 football pitches of irreplaceable ancient woodland.

Oaken Wood is home to wildlife species so rare they are designated nationally scarce or endangered and the scale of the plans would make it the largest case of destruction to ancient woodland England in recent times - yet the developer, Gallagher Ltd, was originally given the go-ahead by Kent County Council.

Time the Government lived up to its promises
But now, under pressure from conservation groups and local campaigners, Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), has called in the application for public inquiry.

Nikki Williams, head of campaigning at the Woodland Trust, said: ‘This is the moment for Government to make good on Caroline Spelman's promises earlier in the year to bring in better protection for of ancient woodland in the UK.

‘More than 5,500 people wrote directly to Mr Pickles demanding this call in, so if the "Big Society" is to mean anything, Mr Pickles needs to listen to their concerns.

‘Once ancient woodland is gone, it has gone for ever. You can't recreate it with new planting or by translocating soils - as Gallagher's tried to suggest in their mitigation. We now have a second chance to turn back from the brink over Oaken Wood, but frankly this application should never have got this far. It breaks government planning guidance and an independent planning consultant threw out the argument that it is needed to meet local demand.'

Will fragment and isolate vital habitats
The Woodland Trust, Kent Wildlife Trust and local action groups have lobbied for a public inquiry over the case, which is also in contravention of Planning Policy Statements 1 and 9 which both contain a strong presumption against development in areas of ancient woodland, unless the development would provide overriding benefits.

The Woodland Trust has claimed the quarrying operations will have a huge indirect impact beyond the core area of 33ha on the neighbouring woodland. Currently Oaken Wood is part of a continuous habitat covering 120ha, closely linked to another 48ha of woodland, and much of its value for wildlife lies in this connectivity.

Independent research commissioned by the trust has shown that by fragmenting and isolating habitats, species are unable to move between them and might avoid the woodland near the quarry altogether.