Protection of Ancient Woodland and Trees

John McNally Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2015 Westminster Hall

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

I am delighted to support the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow), who secured this debate on the protection of ancient woodlands and trees. We are all impressed with her passion for the countryside and rural and urban nature. She has raised my awareness of the ancient and veteran trees in my area: I had probably ignored it, but there are 65 ancient trees and 44% of my constituents live within 500 metres of ancient woodlands—I was not aware of that until I met the redoubtable Member.

I am fortunate to represent a constituency that has a great variety of accessible woodlands located close to its population centres. I will give a wee bit of background on my area and do as best I can—the hon. Lady is a difficult act to follow. The picturesque Callendar wood in Falkirk is at least 500 years old. The trees, woods and adjacent parkland were once the gardens and grounds of Callendar house, a family home for centuries. The wood probably evolved from a medieval hunting park, although there is also evidence of working forestry and coalmining. It is a complex, cultural woodland that is rich in archaeology and veteran trees. Through protection, it has become an island of archaeological preservation and biodiversity.

Torwood, also in my constituency, was a large forested area in the 12th century that stretched from the River Carron in the west and north towards Stirling and inland towards the Campsie fells. At that time it was traversed by an old Roman road, which I have walked many times with my dad, my brothers and my sisters over many years. In preparation for the battle of Bannockburn it was used as the encampment for the men of James Douglas, one of the leaders of King Robert the Bruce’s army. In the wood stood an oak tree that, allegedly, Bruce and William Wallace met under—they probably had a cup of tea or something similar—and which gave Wallace shelter. In 1680 the wood is said to have been the site of the excommunication of King Charles II by Donald Cargill.

My constituency is also blessed with the natural beauty of the Carron glen, which has a magnificent stretch of woodland with a beautiful, steep-sided gorge that supports a large tract of ancient deciduous woodland. I spent most of my childhood in the glen, swimming in the Red Brae and the Black Lynn, probably climbing over ancient dykes and generally mucking about. It was a natural place where I could go and enjoy myself and it will never be forgotten. To this day it is a site of special scientific interest that should be preserved at all costs. It supports oak, birch, alder, goat willow and ash, as well as a variety of woodland flora. We now have otters frequenting the area. If someone sits there long enough, they will see deer walking past in the same area. It is an absolutely outstanding, peaceful area of tranquillity.

Not far from that is a tree locally referred to as a Spanish chestnut tree. Its actual species is not known for certain; we are still investigating that. That tree is the symbol of the Denny and Dunipace Heritage Society, of which myself and Charles McAteer—not the Charles mentioned earlier—were founder members. The tree is more than 400 years old and was part of the Herbertshire estate owned by the Forbes family. The castle on the estate was burnt to the ground in 1914—I was not around at that time, before the hon. Member for Taunton Deane says anything. The tree is still standing and is still known locally as the “hanging tree”.

A number of local conservation groups help to protect the ancient trees and woodland in my constituency, such as the Communities Along the Carron Association, which is run by a group of local volunteers who are committed to the regeneration of the River Carron, its communities and its ancient land. It is led by a remarkable woman called Christine Bell. There is also the local Community Green Initiative, which is run by a group of volunteers. One of its aims is to ensure that the woodland areas are kept litter-free and accessible for everyone. That group is extremely active, with all the schools across Falkirk using the local woodlands. This is about looking to the future and the long term.

As a keen cyclist and walker, I have taken full advantage of those natural amenities. I am well aware that woodlands ancient and modern are more than a source of timber, more than a habitat of flora and fauna and more than a pleasant vista. Although they are and should continue to be all those things, they are also a destination for all groups, families and communities to enjoy. The protection of this natural asset is vital. Ancient woodland is our richest habitat for wildlife and is home to more threatened species than any other habitat. It represents the last fragments of the wildwood that once covered all of the UK thousands of years ago.

When I was doing some research this morning, I came across an article by Scottish Natural Heritage on hen harriers, which are a rare bird of prey. There were only 505 pairs left at the time of the last survey, in 2010, and another survey will be done next year. Those birds leave the highlands of Scotland and come down south for the winter. We are still not sure where they go, but if we cut down these trees, they will not go there again; that is a certainty. We need to be mindful of that at all times.

Our ancient woodland has now diminished to a fraction of its former extent. We have lost forever an irreplaceable part of our natural heritage. The nation’s remaining ancient woodlands are increasingly under threat from development. As the hon. Member for Taunton Deane mentioned, the Woodland Trust reports that it has responded to 14 cases of woods under threat in just the last month and is currently dealing with a total of 561 such cases. That is an unacceptable number of threats, and I do not know how the Woodland Trust will cope. There is a genuine increase in threats to ancient woodland, and the UK Government are simply not doing enough about it.

[Scott Mann]

While the national planning policy framework affects England, I understand that Scotland has devolved powers in planning. Will the hon. Gentleman expand a little on how Scotland has dealt with this issue?

[John Mc Nally]

I can give the hon. Gentleman a brief answer, but I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Calum Kerr) will answer that later. The Scottish Government have developed a policy direction for decisions on woodland removal in Scotland and will apply the policy to decisions within the areas of competence. Unlike England, Scotland has an ancient woodland inventory, to which the hon. Member for Taunton Deane referred. We are making progress. There is a lot more information to read, which I advise hon. Members to do. We can all learn lessons from one another. This is not a political matter; it is about doing the best we can.

Within my constituency, more than 7.5% of the ancient woodland is under threat, while more than 40% of constituents live near woodland. That amounts to only 15.6% of woodland, old and new, which is quite scary. However, the quantity of ancient woodland under threat is not the only issue; the irreplaceable nature of that woodland is the significant point. The hon. Member for Taunton Deane mentioned a Fortingall tree earlier of between 3,000 and 3,500 years old, which I have visited many times. It is believed that Pontius Pilate was born underneath it—never let the facts get in the way of the truth. In Scotland, we define ancient woodland as having existed since around 1750 AD, so what takes minutes to cut down takes centuries to grow. The loss is immeasurable; imagine cutting down the Fortingall tree.

Existing protection for ancient woodland is insufficient. The UK Government have stated on many occasions their support for and appreciation of the value of ancient woodland and the need to protect it. In Scotland, as I mentioned, we are making significant efforts to change that and address these problems, although we are not without our problems. Unlike many precious habitats, however, ancient woodland is not a statutory designation in law and therefore suffers from a lack of protection.

The Minister responsible for forestry, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart), for whom I have a lot of time—he is an excellent guy who knows his brief exceedingly well—recently admitted:

“ancient woodland, as a category, is not a protected category”.

That is quite a statement.

Paragraph 118 of the national planning policy framework allows for the destruction or loss of ancient woodland and aged or veteran trees if

“the need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss”.

That is a total contradiction, because we can never get that woodland back. As a result of that loophole, hundreds of ancient woods and trees are lost or threatened in the planning system every year. Since the NPPF was introduced in March 2012, more than 40 ancient woods across the UK have suffered loss or damage from development. Hundreds more ancient woods are at risk within areas of land allocated for development through site allocations as part of local plans. As admitted by the Forestry Minister under the previous Administration, the Government do not collect data relating to the loss of trees and woods, so a complete picture of the scale of losses in any given year is currently impossible—I totally agree with the hon. Member for Taunton Deane on that.

In December last year, the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government called for ancient woodland to be awarded the same level of protection as designated heritage assets—that includes the house owned by the hon. Member for Taunton Deane. The Committee also called for work to be undertaken to increase the number of ancient woods with statutory designations, to further increase protection. However, in response to the Committee’s report, the Government ruled out changing the wording, arguing that

“existing protection for ancient woodland in the Framework is strong and it is very clear that development of these areas should be avoided.”

Again, that seems a wee bit contradictory. I urge the Government to follow the Communities and Local Government Committee’s recommendations.

In addition to the previously mentioned comments, the Forestry Minister went on to say that

“an enormous amount of our ancient woodland is already protected within our national parks and within AONBs. A lot of it is covered by natural sites under European legislation and a lot of it is protected under SSSI legislation.”

In a response to a parliamentary question on 23 November, corrected on 24 November, the Forestry Minister set out how much ancient woodland is in fact located within designated areas:

“Natural England estimates that 15% of ancient woodland is located within national parks and 30% is located within areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs). In national parks, 29% of this woodland has site of special scientific interest (SSSI) status; in AONBs, 13% of this woodland has SSSI status.”

Unfortunately, while some ancient woodland is indeed located within a national park or area of outstanding natural beauty, that is simply not good enough protection to ensure ancient woodland is not impacted by or lost to development. I absolutely agree with the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), who mentioned the issue of fracking in such areas.

The HS2 route, as has been mentioned, is a notable example of woodland located within designated areas being threatened by development. Although I do not know it, the Chilterns is an area of outstanding natural beauty, well known throughout the world. Another example provided by the Woodland Trust is a hydroelectric scheme currently being proposed in north Wales at Fairy Glen near Betws-y-Coed—are there any Welsh Members here?

[Richard Arkless (Dumfries and Galloway) (SNP)]

You got away with it.

[John Mc Nally]

Thanks. No one can contradict me.

The scheme threatens to damage the ancient woodland located in the Snowdonia national park. The Cairngorms national park local development plan expressly backs potential development sites that could cause damage to ancient woodland, including at An Camas Mòr, Carrbridge and Nethy Bridge. Indeed, in 2014 the installation of a micro-hydroelectric turbine in the Cairngorms was approved, which could also damage ancient woodland.

I could go on and list more examples of ancient woodlands in designated areas that have been removed or are threatened by development. I think everyone in the room shares the concerns of the hon. Member for Taunton Deane about such matters, and I go along with her too. I am happy to support her as best I possibly can. I had more to say, but I think I have spoken for long enough.