Action Briefing Aug 2004 - Sept 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

West Midlands News

Environmental Vandalism in Tile Hill, Coventry

The peace of a Saturday morning was shattered one weekend in May when I received a phone call from a distraught resident of Tile Hill, Coventry. She was witnessing the destruction of a small patch of nearby woodland and urgently wanted to know if there were any legal grounds for stopping it.

A hasty phone call to Ralph Butcher and to Andrew Thomson at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust confirmed the presence of badger setts and nesting birds on the site: the development was in fact illegal.

We arrived at the site to witness what could only be described as a scene of environmental carnage. A JCB and bulldozer had effectively destroyed a patch of woodland about 50m2 and started burning the evidence. The only survivor seemed to be an old oak which apparently had a Tree Preservation Order on it. The fact that the work had started at 7am on the Saturday of a Bank Holiday weekend when the Council Planning Department was closed for three days was in itself suspicious. Later investigation confirmed that no planning permission had been granted for the work.

Local residents were in a state of shock. This wasn’t public land as such but was much appreciated locally. Adjoined by allotments, and overlooked by a number of houses, the site was evidently a precious wildlife haven: there had been a variety of trees and muntjac deer had even been spotted.

Precisely who owned the land wasn’t certain but some of the older residents said that it had been left to the community as a recreational amenity by two sisters who used to live in the area. At one time it had been the site of the local scout hut. The homeowner whose property backed onto the land and who had arranged for the work to be carried out claimed that it belonged to a trust which supports blind ex-servicemen. He said that the trust had given him permission to clear the site.

Neighbours called the police who stopped the work until the presence of the badger setts could be verified. However, soon afterwards the JCB moved back onto the land and the police had to be called in a second time. In the meantime, the Evening Telegraph had sent a reporter and photographer to the scene and a substantial article was printed a few days later. A subsequent environmental report was inconclusive about the presence of badger setts, although the animals have certainly been seen in the locality. Pipistrelle bats and great crested newts, both rare species, are also known to inhabit the neighbourhood.

An active residents' campaign group has grown out of this incident. At the time of writing the group are trying to establish who the rightful owner of the land is. The property developers claim that it was bequeathed to five charities but so far no title documents have been produced in support of this. The residents are trying to find something more conclusive concerning the alleged bequest to the community.

If the land is saved from the developers’ claws restoration will take a long time. It has been suggested that Friends of the Earth help to restore this wildlife haven by planting trees on an autumn activity day, a practical way of helping to preserve valuable tracts of urban woodland for future generations.

John Verdult
Coventry Friends of the Earth 02476 22539