Planning Permission; one wood's battle to exist for young people and the community

Many people may be unaware that in the UK the use of woods for anything except forestry, requires specific permission from the Local Planning Authority, if such use exceeds 28 days a year.

It is good that development is controlled but I wish it was easier and less costly, to get permission for small scale community and educational use. For many small, commercially non viable woods like Hallr Wood, a community and educational project is a perfect way to improve and manage the land. At Hallr Wood we are nearly seven years into a fifteen year woodland management plan. The once neglected woodland is slowly being restored with the active involvement of young people and the local community. Habitat diversification is a main priority and we are currently planning a small wild flower meadow.

For two years (2009-2011), progress on improving the woodland almost stalled as all our energies were diverted to a battle for planning permission. In an effort to comply with planning regulations we had already restricted use to occasional small groups of troubled teenage boys who helped with the maintenance. We were shocked that the Planning Officer disputed that this was ‘forestry’. It was clear that his definition was very limited - and not at all in line with DEFRA whose core aims for forestry include community and educational use. All other, mostly community use had to stop- the scouts, the pre-school, the school and holiday play provision.

Sessions for young children had to stop

All over the country small projects are operating under the radar because it can be so difficult to get educational use. Highway concerns are generally the main stumbling block. Highways can have the same expectations of a small woodland project as they would have of a new build school on a main road. Most woodlands aren't sited in 30 mile an hour zones with easy access to public transport and lit pavements.There are many cases where permission has been refused and projects have been closed down. It is understandable that people hesitate to even try. On the whole it is slightly easier to obtain permissions retrospectively once there is a proven track record of need and benefit. Sadly it only takes a single complaint to bring you under the spotlight. 

People often fear any kind of change and most communities have one or two individuals who take it upon themselves to monitor everything. In our case, our nearest neighbour, owner of a racing stables and chair of the Parish Council, fell into this category.  There was already an uncomfortable relationship between families and the Stables after a serious accident involving a baby being kicked out of his pram by a spooked horse. I can understand their concern that there could be implications for their business if we were allowed to operate so close to their stables. However no formal interest was ever declared.

Paradoxically having such an adversary proved our greatest asset. Our Parish Council Chairperson asserted a negative influence without declaring her interest. This rallied supporters. Parish Council meetings were now attended by droves of our supporters, scouts in full uniform, mothers with pyjama clad children, standing room only. Numerous letters of support flooded in, petitions were signed. We were also fortunate to have a County Councillor living locally who dedicated himself to helping us. And when the time came for the Planning Committee to discuss our case, (after a separate site meeting,) the vote was unanimous; to overturn the Planning Officers decision to refuse us on Highway grounds and grant us mixed forestry and educational use. In spite of the best efforts of a tiny minority, the needs and benefits of what we offered were clear to the District Councillors and this is where there is hope for other projects. The Planning Committee does have the power to make discretionary decisions and there are now a growing number of success stories.

                                              Outside the Council Offices after we 'won'!

In fact this is a highly condensed version of what happened. In between there were many, (retrospectively entertaining), incidents in the attempt to stop us using the wood for the benefit of children, young people and the community. There were allegations that we had no insurance, and that children could be gassed in the shed, there was concern expressed that the whole village could get diphtheria from our compost toilet. Also, that our proximity to the railway line meant that children would end up on it, or would set fire to it causing a national train disaster. There were very many low moments when the strain and costs of persevering with the fight seemed too much. We carried on because there were by then a very small number of teenage boys with various complex needs who depended on the service we offered at Hallr Wood. Most of them are still in touch. A lad with learning difficulties is running his own kindling business. I saw another recently. He always comes up to me with a big smile. He has a good job and always thanks me, saying it is all down to Hallr Wood. . 'That place changed my life' he said.. 

One day I may get around to writing the full story......

 

This is the happy scene when we had finally built our access and opened it with a horse logging event Nov 2011