‘Protect our precious woodlands better’ Trust’s worry that houses will go on ancient lands

extra requirement should be inserted, saying developers should work to retain and protect trees on sites identified as E31 and MU330 in the document “as far as practical”.

But the trust wants those four words removed from the requirement so developers are not then tempted to claim it’s impractical to safeguard the ancient woodland identified in the area and cut it all down. It is now up to the government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) to decide what the wording of the requirement should be.

The trust has told the DPEA: “We understand that Perth and Kinross Council wishes to amend the site specific developer requirements for sites E31 and MU330 in relation to the ancient woodland areas present on site allocation MU330.

“Woodland Trust Scotland welcomes the introduction of such an amendment but is unable to support this in its current form. We would be able to support the amendment if the wording ‘as far as practical’ is removed and a requirement is introduced requesting the appropriate buffer provision for the woodland area.

“We believe that ancient woodland is amongst the most precious and biodiverse habitats in the UK and is a finite resource which should be protected.

“An appropriate buffer area of either greenspace or additional native tree planting should be requested to ensure that negative edge effects on this ancient woodland area are minimised.

“The wording ‘as far as practical’ should be excluded because ancient woodland is an irreplaceable resource and therefore must be protected from adverse impacts of development without equivocation.

“The Scottish Government’s policy on control of woodland removal contains a strong presumption in favour of retaining such woodland areas.

“The Scottish Forestry Strategy 2019-29 states that unnecessary loss of woodland, especially ancient woodland, should be prevented.

“In addition, we note that [Scottish Natural Heritage’s] suggested amendment for this site allocation did not contain the wording ‘as far as practical’.

“For site E31 we note that there is a strip of native woodland, identified in the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland and the requirement ‘retention of wooded area to the south to provide a landscape setting’ which we very much welcome.

“This requirement should be replicated and applied to the ancient woodland on MU330 in addition to a request for a buffer area.”

The DPEA has appointed four reporters to examine the council’s proposed LDP2 and they are expected to announce whether hearings will be needed to settle unresolved representations to its contents in March.

Ancient woodland is amongst the most precious and biodiverse habitats in the UK