Longbury Wood planning application DC/17/2117

The Society has commented on the report produced for the Planning Committee on 21st November.  The text of the Society’s comment, which has been posted on the Horsham planning portal website, is reproduced below.

We have read the Committee Report for 21st November 2017 and we are concerned that the issues of the archaeological significance of the Anglo-Saxon boundary bank and the potential presence of protected species have been under emphasised. Within the representations there are calls for an archaeological inspection of the Anglo Saxon boundary bank and an investigation of the flora and fauna of the whole site and the benefit of leaving it undisturbed but we do not believe this to have been made clear in the report. In addition concerns have been expressed over the lack of detail of the felling licence and clarity regarding the replanting process and enforcement thereof and we consider this also to be under emphasised.

The map provided as part of Professor Milner-Gulland’s paper on the Anglo-Saxon boundary around the Washington Estate clearly shows that vestiges of this boundary are visible at Longbury Wood, both adjacent to Hampers Lane but more importantly also adjacent to Rock Road in the vicinity of the proposed access.  While this boundary bank may not currently appear in any archaeological records held at district or county level it is clearly a matter of record.  Further damage to this bank could easily be avoided by identifying the precise location of the boundary bank in relation to the proposed access and adjusting the location of the access point accordingly, if necessary.

Sandgate Conservation Society understands that this planning application relates to the new vehicular access and hardstanding area only as the forestry management activities are addressed under the Forestry Commission licence FLA/019/180/17- 18.  The Society agrees that if correctly and sensitively carried out the proposed forestry works could enhance the woodland from a biodiversity point of view.  However,  there does not seem to be any requirement on the applicant to take steps to establish what wildlife exists on site and therefore what measures should be taken to minimise the impact of the forestry works on the wildlife.  While there do not seem to be any public records relating to wildlife on the site this absence of records is not surprising.  The committee report refers to residents having access to the site over “well-trodden paths”.  This access to the woods is not known outside of its immediate vicinity so no local nature societies will have undertaken surveys of its flora or fauna.  As there are references to the existence of various mammals in the area, including some protected species, it seems probable, rather than possible, that some of these can be found at Longbury Wood.  In fact, the Forestry Commission’s own guide on bats in woodland strongly suggests that the Natterer’s bat, which has been cited as a locally occurring species, will be at Longbury Wood as it can roost in both deciduous and coniferous trees.  It could be that a wildlife survey has been carried out as part of the terms of the forestry licence and / or the implementation of measures to minimise harm to existing wildlife will be rigorously enforced, but as the Society has no visibility of the requirements of the felling licence and no mention of appropriate measures for the minimisation of harm to protected species is mentioned in the Committee Report the Society takes a pessimistic view of this matter.