Plans by Natural England to fell nearly every tree on ancient peat moss lands around the upper Duddon Estuary have met with resistance from local communities concerned about a lack of consultation and habitat destruction.
Councillor Matt Brereton, who represents the High Furness Division of Cumbria County Council, has expressed concerns on behalf of local residents and businesses from the Broughton and Kirkby areas that Natural England’s plans to fell the trees to raise the water table and “rewet” the bog will have disastrous knock-on effects on local homes, farmland, paths and roads, including the A595 across Wreaks Causeway.
Councillor Brereton led angry residents in a confrontation with Natural England during a drop-in consultation on Tuesday at the Victory Hall in Broughton. With work planned to start in a matter of weeks, many attendees at the meeting expressed outrage that this is the first they are hearing about the project.
Now Councillor Brereton is demanding that Natural England place an immediate hold on work to log all of the trees on the land around the edges of the mosses, arguing that too little research has been done to reassure residents, landowners and local authority statutory consultees about what the negative knock-on effects might be in terms of flooding, undermining roads and paths, damage to natural habitats, wildlife and biodiversity corridors.
“At this moment Cumbria Highways is undertaking overnight resurfacing of the road across the mosses along Wreaks Causeway, which, as the name suggests, is in fact a floating raft along which this main artery road runs. If the same heavy-handed approach from Natural England that has been seen at Foulshaw Moss is allowed to go ahead whether the same issues that have befallen the A590 between Meathop and Brettargh Holt, with upstream flooding, undermining of the carriageway and extensive resurfacing work being required to smooth out the dangerous undulations.
“At the very least Natural England should have consulted with Cumbria County as the lead authority for highways and flooding, and that has simply not happened. Simon Fell MP and his office have been apprised of the situation, and have been asked to intervene on behalf of local residents at ministerial level if needs be to put a block on trees being felled this winter.”
Councillor Brereton has now begun a petition calling on Natural England to postpone any works on the mosses until a proper consultation process has been held and that all statutory consultees are satisfied that the changes planned will not have a major impact on adjoining properties, land, roads or other infrastructure, and what compensation arrangements would be in place in case of homes or farmland being flooded out or highways undermined, with dozens having signed in the first few hours.
Petition in place
Following the public meeting on Tuesday, the petition will be moved to Broughton Post Office for concerned residents to add their names.
Councillor Brereton added: “The drop-in was very well attended and I have no doubt that Natural England did not intend to provoke such consternation and outrage, but I am afraid the consultation such as it has been is deeply flawed and entirely inappropriate in terms of timescale.
“I know from experience as a local representative that if you want to get anything done, you need to bring the community along with you, and holding this poorly advertised meeting just a few days out from when wholescale felling of trees is due to take place is simply not the correct way to go about things.
“Everyone who lives in the area is well aware of Duddon Mosses as a very special, almost unique heathland habit. There are very few habitats like it anywhere else in the country. It is treasured for its scientific interest, its natural beauty, and the important role it performs in naturally managing water levels and also absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. All of those who live nearby love to exercise on the mosses, and it regularly draws visitors from all over for the breathtaking views and the variety of unusual wildlife and flora species.
“If you know the history of the mosses, in what was formerly a parish in its own right, the parish of Angerton, now part of Duddon Parish, then you know that the mosses have actually been subject to management by human hand for centuries, in the form of cutting peat, hunting game, fishing, cutting reeds for weaving and so on. A hundred years or more ago, the itinerant population living and working on the mosses swelled to around 500 people during peak seasons, so intensive was the industry and land management in the area.
“Across all this time the landscape has always been carefully stewarded and tended to, never overworked. While peat-cutting and the like is rightly now a thing of the past, the mosses have not been greatly diminished or damaged, and have largely recovered well in the past few decades, so this talk of some imminent existential threat to them seems out of kilter with reality, as far as most local people are concerned.
“It seems that the main justification for the plan to cut down nearly every tree down there is purely motivated by the opportunity to receive significant funding from the Government to restore the peatland, owing to its benefits of capturing carbon from the atmosphere and to act as a long-term carbon store.
“While everyone who knows and loves the mosses will be in agreement about the importance of the landscape in helping to fight climate change, we feel that those tasked with the stewardship of this unique landscape are going about things in a heavy-handed way. We’ve been told that the mosses are under threat of disappearing or becoming ash woodland over time, but that conveniently overlooks the fact the management of this land has been in the hands of Natural England for the past two decades or more; the change being talked about is nowhere near as rapid or dramatic as what is being claimed.
“It does feel rather like an opportunistic attempt to maximise funding from a central government pot without any regard for local residents or impacts on wildlife, including some very endangered species such as red squirrel, hazel dormice and natterjack toads. People are very understandably concerned, and angered, by the high-handed manner in which this is all being done. No one wants to see drastic change that cannot easily be reversed, such as cutting down every tree where it stands.
“We hope Natural England will now see the error of its approach and agree to our request to place this plan on hold until next winter, to allow for proper community consultation and the appropriate detailed surveys to be done. If trees do need to be felled, surely it makes sense to do this in a more careful and sustainable way, to retain wildlife corridors and effect change more gradually; not least because the trees as they stand provide vital cover from the elements for both the local wildlife and homes and farms in the area. At most I would like to see only diseased trees, or ones out in the centre of the bog, taken out this year, allowing more time to consult properly and plan a less drastic scheme of felling for next winter.”
Steve Benn, Senior Reserve Manager for Natural England said: “Duddon Moss NNR is a rare habitat and we are taking steps to ensure its survival and that of the specialised plants and animals the site supports.
“To allow the peat blog to thrive, we will be removing some trees which are having a detrimental effect on the bog – and will keep those that do not harm the fragile eco-system.
“We have already held a drop-in session for local residents to talk through the works in more detail and will continue to engage with the community throughout this process.”
