Socially Conscious Capital’s Latest version of the truth.

In the last few days Socially Conscious Capital (SCC) have re-emerged with further claims which they hope will advance their aim of making a quick buck from Thorpe Woods by developing an unwanted and unnecessary housing estate over large areas of this much loved County Wildlife Site.

Last November they tried to convince us that the best way of preserving and protecting this wood was for them to be allowed to build over many acres of if (see Latest Plans to Build on Thorpe Woods are Nothing New),however it is hard to convince people that such a proposal can be anything other than nonsense when your plans are opposed not only by the overwhelming majority of local people, as demonstrated in the record breaking response to Broadland District Councils consultation in which 99% (2440 people) opposed any development, but also by local councillors and conservation bodies such as the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Campaign to protect Rural England, Natural England and The Norwich Society.

Therefore SCC’s latest ploy is to suggest that some of these bodies have now seen the light and don’t oppose their plans.

SCC  misleadingly claim on their website that Natural England “have not opposed our proposals”. In fact, SCC even suggest that Natural England thinks they may be a “good start”. Happily the truth is that Natural England has made clear their position as set out in their most recent formal statement:

Natural England ‘s Response - Thorpe Woodlands is identified as a County Wildlife Site and Ancient Woodland (within its north eastern quarter). Recent survey work undertaken by Norfolk Wildlife Trust indicates that the site continues to meet the County Wildlife Site criteria and is a valuable site locally…... In conclusion Natural England supports the identification of Thorpe Woodlands as an area of multi functional open space for wildlife and recreation. It should not be taken forward as a development allocation in the AAP.

On the 26th February we spoke to Natural England who have confirmed that they continue to stand by the above statement and have written a “strongly worded letter” to SCC in respect of the edited comments attributed to Natural England on SCC’s website. We understand that SCC have now agreed to Natural England's request for these statements to be removed.

SCC also seems to suggest that The Norwich Society is thawing; once again the truth is very different as there position is made clear in the following statement:

The Norwich Society Question Response: I am vice chairman of the Norwich Society and Chairman of the Norwich Society's Environmental Committee. I am of the opinion that Thorpe Woodlands are not suitable for residential development (and this is the unanimous view of the Environmental Committee as well.
We have also been in touch with the Chair of the Norwich Society who this week was happy to confirm that they continue to support the protection of the woods in their entirety and provided us with a copy of a letter they had sent to the Chairman of Broadlands Planning committee which states:

The Trustees of the Norwich Society join me to express their deep concern about plans to build new housing on the three pieces of woodland known collectively as Thorpe Woodlands. As a society, we feel it is more appropriate to write a full letter than to sign an on-line petition…They are popular quiet, green areas close to dense population. It is essential that this green lung remains to refresh the citizens of surrounding Thorpe, Thorpe End and Dussindale. It should be an oasis in the proposed development Growth Triangle of north-east Norwich.Any roads should be carefully planned to skirt all three woods.

Last but not least they also suggest that Norfolk County Council’s Green Infrastructure Co-ordinator Dr David White is also sympathetic to the idea of building a housing estate on a County Wildlife Site. He apparently thinks there may be” a case could be made for permitting some development to facilitate the long-term recreational use of the remaining parts of the site”. This quote is drawn from a report issued by Dr White at the end of last year, a report in which he in fact concludes that:

CONCLUSIONS

4.1 Having scrutinised the submitted documents and the other available information, I conclude that large-scale housing development in the Thorpe Woodlands would not be appropriate as the ecological impacts would be too great. However without detail on proposed housing numbers/area, I remain to be convinced that some small-scale housing would be appropriate either. This is based on:

• the ecological value of the site (CWS standard) and importance of the site for ecological connectivity;
• the fact that developing on a CWS would be contrary to local and national policy and that there would be a real danger of undermining the CWS system that has been so beneficial in protecting the most important wildlife sites in a county context;
• the question as to if it would actually be physically possible to compensate for the loss of ecological connectivity in any meaningful way (as opposed to compensation for loss of, or adverse impacts on, within-site habitats); and
• the uncertainty of the benefits of using the approach of building some houses to secure informal public access when other options with potentially fewer adverse impacts seem to be available and could be explored in greater detail.
4.2 The benefit of having the site for public access in the Growth Triangle is obvious, but at this stage and based on the documents submitted, I would hesitate to conclude that building on part of the site is the best way of addressing this.

So despite SCC best efforts the truth is that in addition to the 2440 local people who opposed any development the:

Norfolk Wildlife Trust states that: “In our view Racecourse Plantation and Belmore and Browns Plantations should be retained in their entirety as key biodiversity assets and part of the critical natural capital, within the growth triangle and no part of this woodland should be zoned for development”.

The RSPB’s view is” that Thorpe Woodlands should be retained as open space and as a key area in the Growth Triangle’s green infrastructure provision. We are surprised that housing development is even being considered for this site”.

CPRE Norfolk” supports the Friends of Thorpe Woodlands and their campaign to protect Racecourse Plantation, and adjacent woodland from development”.

Dr David White Norfolk County council concludes “that large-scale housing development in the Thorpe Woodlands would not be appropriate as the ecological impacts would be too great. However without detail on proposed housing numbers/area, I remain to be convinced that some small-scale housing would be appropriate either”.

The Norwich Society is” of the opinion that Thorpe Woodlands are not suitable for residential development”

So it appears that rather than Natural England and other bodies seeing the benefits of building over a much loved woodland County Wildlife Site they are in fact as opposed to it as ever and like the local people who love it realise the importance of preserving it for future generations.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

This Christmas marks three and a half years since the Friends were formed. In that time we have fought to save Thorpe Woods from plans that would destroy them. Over this Christmas many of us will probably find time to visit the woods, perhaps walking in them with friends and family, or simply going for a walk to wear off the Turkey and Christmas pudding. It is at times like these that Thorpe Woods really come into their own as a greenspace in which we can find some peace and quiet and recharge our batteries.

Next year will be a key year for the woods as in May or June we expect Broadland District Council to announce their conclusions as to where they believe development should take place within the Growth Triangle. Hopefully they will have listened to the 2440 people who took time to respond to their consultation and stated clearly that they oppose any development within the woods.

Socially Concious Capital, the latest agents for the owners, have in the last two months come forward with plans which they argue will provide a mini Thetford Forest for the people of Thorpe. Once again their plans don't bear close scrutiny. They argue that they will need to build over a large percentage of the woods to allow them to pay for the management of whatever remains. They claim that the relic of the woods that might remain will be preserved by a trust but aren't willing to say who will form the trust or own it. They say that they have no housing numbers in mind but when pushed admit that the area could hold upto 700 houses. This option is not only opposed by us but also by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, RSPB, CPRE and Natural England.

There is an alternative though, one that the the owners themselves have admitted and one that could work. This is to preserve all 200 acres of this County Wildlife Site and manage it as a proper commercial woodland. This would allow the owners to make a healthy profit from coppicing, felling (all trees felled would by law have to be replanted)and recreation. All of these practices could be carried out in a manner that would protect wildlife and allow public access. This is an option supported by the Friends and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Currently Thorpe St Andrew Town Council is carrying out a survey of local peoples views about the area as part of their preparation of a new town plan:see here. One of their questions is "Are you in favour of potential residential development in ThorpeWoodlands" in response one of our members has written the following,it probably sums up how many of us think:

I understand the above requires responses from the public re the destruction of Thorpe Woodlands, that is Racecourse, Belmore and Browns Plantations.

As I live adjacent to the woods I feel I have much to lose from any development in this woodland. I awake to the changes it delivers every day. Today the freezing fog has diminished and the rays of sunlight are making the ground steam, last week the wind was throwing big branches in all directions and tomorrow will be different again. I have been witness to a wide range of flora and fauna from stags to squirrels and fungi that defies belief. The woodland is an irreplaceable part of this area and supports such diversity, to ruin it with development would be a travesty and a tragedy. Once it’s gone, it’s gone....................forever

I understand the owners want to develop to make the most money and I don’t blame them. However this woodland could be profitable with replanting and felling as it has in the past. I would like to see the timing of felling chosen to disrupt as little of the wildlife as possible and certain areas protected due to their uniqueness. In other words, responsible practices.

Alternatively if this woodland could become accessible to the public that would be the best option, I do not know how this could be achieved but am aware there is strong opposition locally to any development as I’m sure the council is. Many of us have campaigned to make the neighbourhood aware of the possibilities, having been through the “charette” process and attended many meetings, nothing has changed my mind including the latest bid by SCC to “enlighten” us hicks. The SCC presentation was very poorly put together with minimal information available which allowed them to show “plans” with no numbers (of houses) or roads. Plans look a lot prettier without roads and numbers on and I feel they misled many visitors with that and their charm offensive. None of the team has any local connection and their local knowledge was sketchy at best with local ponds ignored on their diagrams and their inability to properly converse about the woodland, its access points and general information was limited and disappointing.

No doubt next year will bring further challenges for Thorpe Woods and the people who love them, but it also offers the hope of saving them for future generations to enjoy so that they to will be able to walk through these beautiful woods at Christmas with their families and enjoy the woods and wildlife that we treasure so much.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Socially Conscious Capital promotes another unwanted housing development in the face of local opposition

Only 10 days after trying to convince Thorpe St Andrew residents that it wishes to protect a much loved local woodland by building several hundred houses over it Socially Conscious Capital (SCC) has turned its gaze on a small Scottish village. Rock Feilding Mellen, who in addition to running SCC is the son of the Earl of Wemyss and March, has been promoting his father plans to build several hundred house on the family estate against the wishes of local villagers
The Edinburgh Evening News reported on the 19th November that:

“VILLAGERS up in arms at plans to build hundreds of homes on their doorstep claim they were delivered an astonishing snub by an aristocratic developer.

Residents in Longniddry say their concerns about proposals for farmland owned by the Earl of Wemyss and March on the edge of the village are being ignored.And they say that when the plans were criticised at a public meeting attended by about 300 people, the earl’s stepson, Rock Fielding, who is a Tory councillor in Kensington and Chelsea, told them: “The estate will not be dictated to by the village.””

“The estate will not be dictated to by the village.” So says Socially Superior Capitalist Rock Fielding Mellen.

Rock has even resorted to the use of the now notorious Charette with the paper reporting that “An intensive three-day consultation session or “charette” was held on the plans last week – but villagers claim only two or three people attended on two of the days and about a dozen on the third because most people were at work during the day”.

It all sounds very familiar and once again underlines why Socially Conscious Capital’s proposals for an “arcadian development” over much of Thorpe Woods should be seen for what it is, an attempt to make a quick buck against the wishes of local residents and at the cost of a much loved County Wildlife Site.

Latest Plans to Build on Thorpe Woods are Nothing New

The Friends of Thorpe Woodlands oppose Socially Conscious Capital's latest plans for the development of Thorpe Woods.

Only 5 months ago Broadland District Council held a public consultation which asked if people supported any development of the woods. This resulted in the largest response ever received with over 2440 people writing in to oppose any development. They were joined by the RSPB, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, CPRE and Natural England all of whom called for the woods to be saved in their entirety.

Last week the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Forestry Commission told the Friends that in their view it would be entirely possible for the owners of the woods to allow public access and enhance their wildlife value whilst carrying out commercial felling and coppicing. Examples of this include Foxley and Bacton Woods.

The Friends of Thorpe Woods view the current proposals to develop Thorpe Woods as a PR offensive and in essence they are only recycling plans that have been rejected by the council and local people in the past. The latest approach tries to both bribe and threaten local people but in truth their supposed “creation of the new community woodland” should be viewed as a Trojan Horse. If any houses were given planning permission, it would leave the flood gates open to the land being sold for mass development. It is nonsense to argue that the best way of saving this woodland is to build 700 houses over it, a figure proposed by Socially Conscious Capital at a council meeting only last month. Any level of development would do immense damage to the woods as a whole, a fact supported by a recent Norfolk Wildlife Trust survey which shows that the biodiversity value of the woods is continuing to increase with species such as Great Crested Newts, White Admiral Butterflies, Adders and Glow-worms.

Thorpe Woods are a much loved sanctuary for wildlife that has been enjoyed by many generations. Now more than ever they should be protected so that Norwich continues to be a beautiful place in which to live.



County Councillor for Thorpe St Andrew, Ian Mackie, said "Any plans for housing on this area of immense ecological value will be of real concern to many local residents and is premature.I see little need for this scheme and the plans for an independent trust appears to have little detail behind it, such as who would run it and who could afford to manage a 125 acres of woodland in perpetuity? I've opposed development on this site for 10 years and don't see anything new on offer."

Answering Socially Conscious Capital's misleading assertions

SCC claim- Woodland undeveloped would become an "isolated island of green"
Broadland planning's view- "Thorpe Woodlands is identified as an area of Core Habitat within the Green Infrastructure Study and Delivery Plan and its loss may have significant implications for the achievability of this delivery plan."

SCC claim - Housing would be on the least sensitive area.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust- "Even part development is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the CWS and there would be a need to compensate both for the loss of woodland and for recreational impacts of new housing on the remaining wood."

SCC claim - Not Ancient woodland
In response to the designation of 30 acres of Thorpe Woods as Ancient Woodland the owners commissioned their own expert. This expert found all the important indicator species in the woods but chose not to regard that as evidence of it being Ancient Woodland. Subsequently the owners have sought to diminish the biodiversity value of the woods, however even their own report whilst refuting the Ancient Woodland status does state that the woods contain valuable remnants of wet woodland heath habitat worthy of restoration and protection.

SCC claim- Our plans would give the public what they asked for in the consultation
2444 people responded to the consultation questions 23 and 24 on the future of Thorpe Woodlands, The largest response ever received by Broadland on a single issue. 99% of those responses were opposed to any development of the wood.

SCC claim- No fixed housing numbers at this stage and no extra traffic generation
At the recent Plumstead meeting the figure of 500-700! higher end properties was let slip by Rock Fielding, (The 2010 plan for 630 houses reduced Racecourse CWS, the bulk of Thorpe Woodlands and it's ecological value to a woodland border) Later that year the landowner attempted to push the figure to 800.

SCC claim- Minimum 125 acres of "family friendly" areas
We already have 200 acres of woodland which provide good public access including significant areas of Racecourse, this balanced with an exceptionally valuable site for wildlife and continuity of a mosaic of habitats, including heath, wood pasture and woodland existing over a very long period of time. Norfolk Wildlife Trust believe more public access is possible while maintaining the biodiversity value but even building in part would have significant adverse effects.

SCC claim- Managing and felling would prohibit public access to Thorpe Woods
In response to this The Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Forestry commission have said ""public access is compatible with woodland management. I need only cite the entire Public Forest Estate of England, some 214,000ha managed by the Forestry Commission, which has public access throughout. Public access is only limited when harvesting operations are underway, and then only the felling area is closed to the public, being marked off with warning tape and public notices. As soon as the felled coupe is made safe that work area is again open to the public." Examples of where the Trust also allows public access whilst undertaking felling include Marsham, Buxton, Holt, Cawston and Foxley Wood,

Local people and councillors protest at closed meeting to promote the development of Thorpe Woods

The Friends of Thorpe Woodlands together with a number of local councillors have stated their opposition to an invitation only meeting that has been organised by the owners of the woods.

Socially Conscious Capital and Turley Associates, agents for the owners of the wood Thorpe and Felthorpe Trust, have invited a picked audience to attend a presentation in which they will set out their plans to develop the woods. It is understood that the proposals will include building up to 700 houses on the site. Local Councillors Ian Mackie, Nigel Shaw and Stephen Freeman – Pannett have said that they oppose an invitation only meeting, especially when open meetings have been held elsewhere. Councillor Ian Mackie said that the meeting could leave those who attend the meeting open to the charge of “holding restricted and less than transparent practices”.

Friends of Thorpe Woodlands feel that the meeting could be a PR exercise designed to side step the local planning process, the growing environmental case for preserving the woodlands, and the overwhelming public opposition to any building on Thorpe Woodlands. This being most clearly expressed in the recent Broadland District Council Consultation which asked local people for their views on where within the Growth Triangle they thought future housing development should be sited. Questions 23 and 24 of that consultation asked if people supported the development of Thorpe Woods, in response the council received 2440 replies from local people and bodies such as the RSPB, The Woodland Trust, Natural England, CPRE and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, these responses opposed any development of Thorpe Woods. This response was one of the largest ever received by the council on a single issue.

The Friends of Thorpe Woodlands would welcome a council chaired public meeting to discuss the future of Thorpe Woods but will not support, or play any part in, a private meeting that is being organised to promote the development of housing on the site of the woods.

The Friends continue to oppose any plans that threaten this unique and much loved green space and call upon the council to respect the views expressed by local people in response to their own consultation.

Outstanding response to Council Consultation - 80% of responses call for Thorpe Woods to be saved from development.

Broadland District Council’s Growth Triangle Area Action Plan - Options Consultation was launched on the 18th March and ran for 3 months. The consultation sought the views of local people and organisations upon where within the growth triangle the council should permit development.

Questions 23 and 24 related to the local woodland called Thorpe woods, they asked:

Question 23: Thorpe Woodlands

Are you of the opinion that that Racecourse Plantation and/or Belmore and Brown's plantation are suitable for residential development as part of an extended Core Development Area CA1? Yes/No

Alternatively, do you think that some or all of Thorpe Woodlands would be well suited to becoming a publicly accessible woodland? Yes/No.

Please explain the reasons for your answers.

Question 24: Salhouse Road to Plumstead Road Orbital Link

Do you consider that the link should be open to all traffic but designed to minimise traffic speeds or should it be restricted to public transport, walking and cycling? Do you have a view on restricting traffic from certain directions?

Are there any other route options for the link road which should be considered?

In response to question twenty three the council received 1664 responses and for question twenty three 784 responses.

Of these responses only three failed to call for the protection of Thorpe, two of these were submitted by the owners of the woods and their agents.

The consultation as a whole received 2854 responses covering the whole of the growth triangle, of these over 2445 called for the protection of the woods.

Due to the number of responses opposing the development of the woods Broadland District council were still counting and recording them more than three weeks after the consultation had closed.

The responses calling for the protection of the woods amounted to nearly 85% of all the responses to the consultation and clearly show the council that local people in large numbers are strongly opposed to any development.

Broadlands planning department stated that the 2445 replies represented the highest response they had received in relation to a single issue.

Bodies such as the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Norwich Society and the Friends of Thorpe Woodlands all submitted responses which opposed any development and called for the woods to be preserved as a green space for people and wildlife.

One week left to say NO to the Destruction of Thorpe Woods

You only have until the 10th of June to make clear that you want Thorpe Woods saved from the Developers.

Only today we have heard that the owners have contacted the council to inform them that they will be making an application to build housing on the woods within the next few weeks.

YOU can save this beautiful english woodland by emailing Broadland District Council at the following address:

ldf@broadland.gov.uk 

In your email please state that you are responding to the Growth Triangle Area Action Plan Consultation and answer whether: 

1. You think Thorpe Woodlands are suitable for residential development? 
2. You think they are suitable to become publicly accessible woodland? 

In email heading be sure to state 'Consultation response to Thorpe Woodlands Question 23 

Include strong reasons if possible (and there are plenty in this case) they will add weight to your vote.

And remember to include your Name and Address 

The owners are aware that large numbers of local people, councillors and conservation groups are opposed to their plans. With your help we can strengthen this oppostion even further.

 Please email today.

Thank you