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

of Windsor and Maidenhead Council’s Tree Replacement Notice

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

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

1. I am a lecturer in Environmental Information Systems at The Open University, UK. I have 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, and upstream 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 and Blacknest Park, is covered by a ‘Woodland Tree Preservation 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 14th 2011, I had a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Matthew Lucas, a board member 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 in supporting the ecological restoration, and I therefore became intimately acquainted with the plant and woodland ecology of Blacknest Park, including the densely wooded 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 Birch trees (>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).

7. My intimate knowledge of the densely wooded nature of the site is corroborated by a 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 deciduous species 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 me to 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.

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.

11. I reported this clear infringement of the Woodland TPO to Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council's Tree Team (trees@rbwm.gov.uk) via e-mail. Other witnesses also reported the infringement.

12. In February 2013, 'Distinctive Properties Ascot Limited' submitted a planning application to build a mansion on exactly the site of the clearfelling and infilling. It is abundantly 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 Google “Blacknest Park YouTube”) and the following photographic evidence of the clearfelling:

14. In the current 'Distinctive Properties Ascot Limited' TRN appeal, they make a case that 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 Council’s 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 imagery clearly 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 for individual 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 stages of 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 'Woodland TPO' by regularly brushcutting the recovering vegetation, as witnessed by several individuals and as can be seen on site by the even height of the cut vegetation. This

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 of Alder, 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 Sunninghill Neighbourhood 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 planning application (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 comprises Sunningdale 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 a flourishing 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 Council’s Tree Replacement Notice to replant 1280 specimens of Alder, Willow, Birch and Oak, is upheld.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Andrea Berardi

21 Willson Road, Englefield Green, Surrey, TW20 0QB