'Working for the conservation and preservation of Thorpe's woodlands as a haven for wildlife and a green space for the local community'.


Saturday 1 July 2017

Kensington & Chelsea Deputy council leader Rock Feilding-Mellen who managed Grenfell Tower refurbishment is director of firm looking to build 300 homes on the outskirts of Norwich

Kensington and Chelsea Deputy council leader Rock Feilding-Mellen who managed Grenfell Tower refurbishment has been identified in the EDP as the owner of Socially Concious Capital, the development firm that has been trying to develop an unwanted housing development in the middle of Thorpe Woods.


Mellen has repeatedly ignored the view of local people and councillors whilst promoting his plans to build a highly damaging housing estate in the middle of a much loved County Wildlife Site situated in Thorpe St Andrew on the edge if Norwich.


Click on the link below to read the article in the EDP:


Thursday 15 June 2017

Broadland District Council refuses latest planning application

Broadland District Council has published its refusal of the latest planning application to build a housing development over a large area of Thorpe Woods.

The woods are a County Wildlife Site and fall outside of the area identified by the council as being suitable for development.

The full decision can be viewed by using the following link:

https://secure.broadland.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning%20Application/702000/702696/20161896%20Decision.pdf

The property developers Socially Concious Capital have made no comment on the refusal or on whether they plan to appeal against it.




Thursday 4 May 2017

Creating Public Footpaths in Thorpe Woods – Can you help

The Friends are currently working with Thorpe St Andrew Town Council with the aim of creating a series of new public footpaths through Thorpe Woods.
Initially we need to build up evidence that the routes have been used frequently over a period of time.
We have recently contacted many of our members and provided them with the necessary forms for them to complete and return to us.
The four routes we are hoping to create run between:
•             Woodside Road to Plumstead Road East or Plumstead Road East to Woodside Road
•             South Hill Road to Plumstead Road East or Plumstead Road East to South Hill Road
•             South Hill Road to Pound Lane or Pound Lane to South Hill Road
•             Greenborough Road to Plumstead Road East or Plumstead Road East to Greenborough Road
If you regularly walk in Thorpe Woods and would like to help us to try and create these public footpaths through both Belmore and Racecourse Plantations please contact us at :

lornacbeckett@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you 

Monitoring felling within Belmore and Racecourse

At the start of this the owners of Thorpe Woods carried out felling in both Racecourse and Belmore Plantations.
The Friends support the professional management of the woods and appreciate that part of this involves felling and replanting, however in this case we were concerned to see that following the felling a large number of tree trunks and heavy limbs were left strewn across the woodland floor and paths.
Any felling requires the permission of the Forestry Commission and licences from them, and in the case of Thorpe Woods the licences clearly state that following any felling large trunks and limbs should be removed from the site. 
As a result we decided to contact the Forestry Commission officer for this area and raised our concerns with him, since then we are pleased to see that the owners have arranged for the removal of a lot of this felled timber. 
We will of course continue to monitor any felling that takes place to make sure that it complies with the Forestry Commission requirements