Council imposes protection order for whole woodland

A council has put a tree preservation order (TPO) across a whole woodland in response to a planning application for a wedding venue.

There are plans to put up permanent tipis, tents and a toilet block for six months of the year in Berkshire's Welford Park - where the Great British Bake Off is filmed.

West Berkshire Council's own economic development team are behind the plans, but the tree team team has put the TPO in place meaning no trees can be touched without consulting them.

The matter will go before the council's Western Area Planning Committee on 23 July.

Welford Park is ancient woodland, which takes hundreds of years to establish and is defined as an irreplaceable habitat.

The application is to allow what is happening already - weddings in a glade in the wood for 28 days a year - to have five-year temporary planning consent from May to September.

The proposal is for permanent tipis, a ceremony tent, a catering tent and toilet block.

In a letter to the planning authority, the tree officer said trees had been felled without a licence.

He also said the ground was cleared for the ceremony tent just as bluebells had emerged, "causing significant damage of this protected species".

But around 25 letters of support from local people and businesses have been sent to the council.

One, from a local butcher, said weddings at the venue helped their business.

The scheme also has the support of the council chairman and ward councillor for Hungerford and Kintbury, Tony Vickers.

He said granting the consent would enable the council to "demand rigorous monitoring of the impact" on the environment.

"Arguably this could provide valuable research with far-reaching value to science and conservation practice," he said.

He also said the plans did not require any trees to be felled, although he said two large elms in the glade were dying and "will need to go for safety reasons".

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