'Destruction of habitat' at Sandy Bank Wood in Harrogate upsets villagers
Residents in a Harrogate village are reported to be “deeply distressed” after workmen began cutting a swathe through a much-loved woodland as part of a £15 million Yorkshire Water project to improve sewage facilities.
Yorkshire Water has told the Harrogate Advertiser that it is operating within the law and that it is following all the guidance from ecologists.
But the sense of distress at the scenes happening at Sandy Bank Wood in Pannal is palpable, said George Eglese, one of the driving forces behind Crimple Commons, a project to create a community common on land west of Leeds Road in Harrogate.
“At this week’s Crimple Commons drop-in session, there was a strong and emotional response from the community,” said Mr Eglese.
"Many residents arrived visibly upset, asking what was happening.
"Crucially, most had no prior awareness of the scale or location of these works.
”Yorkshire Water may describe this route as temporary, the damage from the clearance work clearly is not."
George Eglese reported that pupils from Pannal Primary School, who had been using the woodland for Forest School for many years, arrived in wellies ready for their session, only to find the site locked off and a major corridor cut through the woodland.
"In a matter of days, a place that has quietly served as one of the last truly wild havens for residents and wildlife has been torn open,” said Mr Egelse, who is also co-ordinator of Harrogate Wildbelt, a campaign to join up existing habitat sites around Harrogate fringes.
"When I visited Sandy Bank Wood I was taken aback by the scale of machinery and clearance.
“Most of the bordering trees have gone, including a number of 200-year-olds.
"The sense of distress across the village is palpable."
A Pannal resident also got in touch with the Harrogate Advertiser to express her concern at the turn of events at Sandy Bank Wood.
Pannal historian and ex-chair of Harrogate Civic Society, Anne Smith, said: “Yorkshire Water want to lay hard standing for very large trucks to put in sewage pipes.
"But Sandy Bank Wood is a wildlife sanctuary with lots of birds and owls, pheasants, polecats, badgers, bluebells and wild garlic.
"Hard standing will mean the end of that area as a sanctuary for habitat and animals.”
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "We are now under way with the £15 million wastewater network upgrade in Pannal, which is necessary to support growth in the area.
"We would like to assure everyone that we are working in a controlled, efficient and safe manner, and are doing so in line with guidance from ecologists and current legislation.
"We thank everyone in the area for their patience and understanding."
It is also believed that Yorkshire Water is working on a reinstatement strategy for the affected woodland area with the landowner, though this is yet to be finalised.