Asbestos in woodland track is ‘not a threat’

Although Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has already built the path through Wappenbury Woods, which it owns, it had to apply ‘retrospectively’ to Warwick District Council for permission to have it there, following complaints from people in the area.

In March Linda Hutton, who lives next to the woods and volunteers as a warden there, sent samples of material - which contained scrap metal and old bicycle parts - for analysis. Three out of four were shown to contain asbestos.

Objections were also sent to the council by the owners of the shooting and sporting rights within the wood and by Bubbenhall parish council, which wrote in a letter: “The parish council and residents have until recently held the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust in high regard for its management of the ancient woodlands.

“But we have been shocked and dismayed by the construction of a 3m wide track through the wood, the foundations for which used unacceptable waste materials.”

Ian Jelley, the trust’s head of living landscapes, was due to speak at the council’s planning committee meeting on Tuesday, but because the opposing speaker did not turn up, he was not permitted to do so.

He had previously told the Courier that the track needed to be built for vehicles to fell trees as part of a five-year management plan to help regenerate the wood.

Planning officer Rob Young told councillors at the meeting that the trust would not normally require planning permission for this type of work and it was only asked to do so because it had failed to ask for informal approval before carrying it out.

Cllr Ann Blacklock (Lib Dem, Kenilworth Abbey) said: “We should be asking for something more safe and rural. They should have given us a lot more information.”

But Cllr Bertie Mackay (Ind, Stoneleigh) said: “I have seen this type of material before and I don’t think it’s a threat.”