Wakefield woodland to be felled to make way for housing

The trees were planted with help from local schoolchildren in 2001

A woodland created by children on the site of an old mine could be destroyed after plans for a housing development were approved.

About 400 trees were planted at the Parkhill Colliery site in Eastmoor, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2001.

The Park Hill Woodland will now be removed after developers Bridge Homes won approval to build 116 homes there.

An online petition has been signed by more than 600 people calling for the wood to be saved.

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Wakefield Council said it was in talks with Bridge Homes over the possibility of saving at least some of the trees. 

Speaking at a full council meeting on Wednesday, Wakefield East Conservative councillor Akef Akbar said: "In Eastmoor, trees are being ripped down over and over and over again.

"What message are we sending out over the environment?

"The residents of Eastmoor are quite disappointed. I understand there's a balancing act for residential development, but when will we stop hammering Eastmoor?'"

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said Labour council's deputy leader, Jack Hemingway, told the meeting he understood the concerns.

He said: "It causes me anguish to see trees being felled.

"It's important as a council that we're consistent with our messaging and we do want to plant more trees.

Tree talks

He added: "Planning is a complex issue and the committee has to consider a range of factors - not just the environment but national policy, local policy and all sorts of issues - to reach an impartial decision.

"Discussions have been taking place within the council to see what could be done to maybe save some of these trees.

"We've also approached Bridge Homes to see if any of the trees might be saved and what mitigations they might want to put in place."

Mr Akbar told the meeting some residents had suggested the council's relationship with Bridge Homes had been a factor in the decision to allow planning permission.

The Castleford-based firm was set up as a partnership between the council and social housing supplier Wakefield District Housing (WDH) in 2014.

Companies House documents suggest any profits it makes are redistributed between the two organisations.

Mr Hemingway told him: "I don't think (what you've said) is necessarily the case, but I'm not in charge of planning so I wouldn't like to comment on that."