Petition may have come too late to save Cleethorpes woodland from being lost to the chainsaw

Enchanted wood - but one that will probably soon be lost 

 

A PETITION has probably  come too late to save a precious broadleaved woodland in Cleethorpes from being destroyed.

At North East Council's latest planning committee meeting, a proposal that will ensure the felling of  hundreds of native trees was signed off.

In place of  the Peaks Covert Farm Wood, which stands adjacent  to the Altyre Way car showroom complex, there will be be a holiday park with 44 lodges.

At Wednesday's planning meeting, councillors were told it would be "irrelevant" to debate the "merits" of the proposal.

This was because, under delegated powers,  a case officer had - without discussion -  granted consent for the development in August 2008.

Over 15 years, no work on the project started, partly because one of the investors became embroiled in legal matters, resulting in the Crown Prosecution  Service imposing a charge on the site.

The courts were also kept busy by another of the investors who became  involved with an acrimonious dispute over who, exactly, is or was owner over the wood.

But these complications now appear to have  been resolved, prompting the investors to strike up anew with their project which, reportedly,  is to be known as Lodge Park.

The prospect of such a precious  eight-acre wood being lost has dismayed many Cleethorpes residents, one of whom, Martyn West, of Highgate, last week raised a 215-name petition calling for it to be saved.

The document states: "We need to be reversing the loss of nature, habitat and wildlife, not accelerating the depletion of our natural world."

But, following last Wednesday's meeting, the planning consent is now in the bag. 

Barring a change-of heart by the investors, it seems Mr West's initiative is in vain unless and his supporters can, perhaps backed with grant aid,  raise the cash to buy the wood.

The Grimsby News says: There are several disturbing aspects to this project - not least the meekness of members of the planning committee. Why was there no challenge when they were effectively barred by an officer from discussing the merits of the proposal? Who calls the shots - the officers or the councillors?  This was the ideal opportunity - indeed the only opportunity - for the pros and cons of losing a woodland to be debated. Yet not a word was spoken on the fate of hundreds, if not thousands of trees, and their attendant birds and other wildlife. No wonder Mother Nature is in the run in North East Lincolnshire. Is there no one in  planning who cares? 

Song of the robin is feature of the wood's springtime dawn chorus