Eco warriors have taken up residence in a
300-year-old beech tree to save it from the chop. Environment Correspondent
SEAN KIRBY reports
The hand-held two-way radio crackles as activist
'Cookie' calls in.
"I thought I'd just tell you a squirrel's run off
with half my peanut butter sandwich," he tells us.
Who says environmentalists don't have a sense of humour?
Cookie is calling from his new home, a tent on a wooden
platform 60ft up a beech tree in Mansfield Woodhouse.
He tells me he can see his proper home from his new
vantage point, although Cookie won't reveal its address, his real name or
even his age.
Despite the jokes, he's taking this very seriously. As
are his two fellow residents.
In July this year the Post revealed residents and
environmental campaigners were opposing the closure of the road junction of
Sherwood Rise and Debdale Lane and its replacement with one three times the
width.
Developer Bellway Homes wants the junction changed to
fit in with plans for a further 200-plus homes alongside the 24 being built
on former colliery land off Sherwood Rise.
But this would mean the removal of the 300-year-old tree
and other mature trees on a 'green wedge'.
Cookie says: "We've done a lot of training for this
sort of thing. There are things that could go wrong and we'd still be safe.
"I first came up here two nights ago. It's been
permanently occupied from the start of this week."
But why take such extreme action?
"If we weren't here they [the developers] would
just take the tree, pay a fine and say 'sorry'," he said.
Cookie said that only a written agreement or court
judgement preserving the woodland around the Bellway housing project would
get him out of his lofty perch.
Campaigner Mary Parkin, of Sherwood Rise, keeps in touch
with him by radio. She said she has documents proving residents in nearby
Debdale Gate have a right of way across Sherwood Rise which would be
compromised by the building of the new junction.
"We are looking for a judicial review into
this," said Ms Parkin. "We have been talking to solicitors."
A letter to residents from Mansfield District Council
said the decision was deferred "following objections from local residents."
A council spokesman said when residents were consulted
about the junction 18 months ago. "Nine out of ten" had backed it
to ease congestion.
People still had to be contacted again to be informed
about water mains works, which would impact on the right of way.
But the spokesman added: "If residents turned
around and said they didn't want the road adopted or the water supply, it
wouldn't stop the development happening."
The council said any action to tackle the protesters was
up to Bellway Homes.
And Bellway Homes has a stark message for Cookie and his
friends. "If we're forced to we'll have to contact the police to get
these people removed," said a spokesman. "We'll take legal action
if they refuse to see sense."
The council and Bellway Homes will meet again with
residents on September 12.
