Planning application for a carpark at Gorrick Wood
30 June 2006 (revised 22 August 2006) | Marek Walford
9 August 2006: The planning application was withdrawn.
I've received an email concerning a planning application that is to be made for a carpark at Gorrick Wood. The increase in disturbance that will result will inevitably have a detrimental affect on the areas special ground nesting birds. I urge everybody to read the rest of this article and to consider objecting to the application. The rest of this article was written by John Baster.
Details of the application
Application No: F/2006/7536
Location: Gorrick Wood - Bramshill Forest Nine Mile Ride Wokingham
Key Dates
Received Date: 24/04/2006
Consultation Start Date: 12/06/2006
Deadline for Comments: 10/07/2006
Valid Date: 08/06/2006
Proposal: Proposed alterations to access off Nine Mile Ride and construction of an 18 space rural car park.
Planning Officer: NAB
Appeals: No appeal received to date
I feel it is essential to prevent this land being used as mitigating land for housing developments in the area and enclose an email that we are circulating to raise awareness of this.
It is hoped to get everyone with any interest in wildlife to write in to Wokingham to object to the use of Gorrick Plantation as mitigation land which is obviously the reason the Forestry Commission has put in the planning application F2006/7536 for applying to open up large car park. After the public inquiry in May 2006 on a Wimpey development in Crowthorne (Dukes Ride) was postponed due to Wimpey's unsatisfactory suggestion that Wellington College's land could be used in mitigation, Wimpey consulted with the Forestry Commission and that very afternoon headed off to Gorrick Plantation.
All letters of objection have to be in by the 10th July 2006, which does not give us a lot of time to write to the case officer Natalie Brown natalie.brown@wokingham.gov.uk. You can also make your objections by logging onto the WDC web site.
Andy Glencross, WDC's equivalent to John Wenman is objecting. Carole Doran wrote the following yesterday evening. We have already contacted Angus Ross and Andrew Mackay as we need their support. Please feel free to use the material that Carole has written and it does not matter whether you live within 10 metres or ten miles from Gorrick you have a right to object. There is also a likely traffic problem on Nine Mile Ride that is narrow and very busy at the point where a the car park is being proposed.
Subj: Gorrick Wood
Date: 28/06/2006 20:35:30 GMT Standard Time
From: *****
To: development.control@wokingham.gov.uk
For the attention of Natalie Brown
Planning application F/2006/7536
Gorrick Plantation Bramshill Forest Nine Mile Ride Wokingham
I object to the above application to put in a car park for the following reasons:
- The site is a Wildlife Heritage Site and was designated specifically for the presence of two rare ground nesting birds, the Nightjar and the Woodlark.
- Of the two of these, the Woodlark is on the 'Red list'. This means that the conservation of this species of bird is of the utmost importance. The UK's birds can be split into 3 categories of conservation importance - red, amber and green. Red has the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action.
RED LIST CRITERIA:
- Globally threatened
- Historical population decline in UK during 1800-1995
- Rapid decline in UK breeding population over last 25 years
- Rapid contraction of UK breeding range over last 25 years
Therefore it is a highly protected species.
- Due to the fact that both birds nest on the ground, they are highly sensitive to increases in recreational pressure. A car park will naturally allow more people to come to the site, both to walk themselves and to walk dogs. This would be a disaster for the birds and other creatures that live in the area.
- As you will note from the list above, the breeding range for the Woodlark has contracted over the last 25 years and Gorrick Plantation should be left as it is, so that no further damage is done to the breeding range.
- No assessment has been done by the applicant to show how the increase in the number of visitors to the site would impact on the bird population. There is no mention, for example, of any measures that would be put in place to ensure that a globally threatened species would be protected in the future.
The car park application should be refused.
Yours faithfully