Development threatens to devastate 800-year old deer park with the loss of nearly 200 valuable trees
The Woodland Trust is calling on wildlife lovers to support its campaign to save a remnant of a medieval deer park in Berkshire from being turned into a housing development.
The planning application for 227 houses in Aldermaston Park near Reading would see the loss of more than 180 trees (60% of the trees in the application area), some of which are hundreds of years old. The damage to this important wildlife habitat and nationally important historic parkland is being justified by the developer as the only way to ensure the remainder of the habitat can be adequately managed.
Aldermaston Park is a 140 acre estate which was bought in 2014 for £4.7m by Praxis Holdings Limited, a property investment company based in the Isle of Man. The planning proposal will take up 15% of the site and the Woodland Trust is calling for the application to be turned down based on the scale of habitat loss and damage in the deer park.
Jill Butler, Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Specialist, said: “This is an unprecedented planning application in terms of the devastating impact on an historic wood pasture and parkland, which is an incredibly valuable wildlife habitat.
“And to say that the remaining fraction of deer park can only be managed properly by first building houses on it is a complete contradiction. We urge people to support us in opposing this application.”
Wood pasture and parkland of this quality is nationally important historically and culturally. It may derive from medieval hunting forests, or from wooded commons. Others are designed landscapes, often associated with big estates dating from the 16th century. Part of the great hunting forest that the Saxon kings and William the Conqueror called Windsor Forest; Aldermaston was first recorded on maps in 1202.
The Woodland Trust has been compiling information on individual trees for many years, with over 155,000 records on its ancient tree inventory. The charity is calling for better recognition for all trees of National Special Interest.
To register your opposition to the development visit the Woodland Trust's website.
