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Friday, 25 January 2019

Houghton Regis: Massacre of Bidwell Spinney

First published 25/1/2019

Bidwell Spinney with my red lines showing where trees have been removed,
and my guesswork at where the roundabout is going.

An established woodland at Thorn Road/Bedford Road Houghton Regis has been destroyed to make way for a mini-roundabout.

The woodland, known as Bidwell Spinney was a wildlife haven with several varieties of trees growing in it. Site workers have wiped Bidwell Spinney off the map.


It just seems so wrong to me- the HRN2 overview maps did show an actual Bidwell Spinney and did refer to the construction of a mini-roundabout at Bedford Rd/Thorn Rd junction, but to take out the entire spinney seems criminal to me. HRN2 plans link.

Are we really so powerless that we could not stop this? How do we have the right to challenge those who seek to destroy the Amazon rainforest if we cannot protect our own tiny woodlands?


I put in a series of questions to CBC this week ...



... and got this response today ...


Update 28 Jan 2019.

CBC has just sent me a large document showing the size of the roundabout, and a tree re-planting scheme for Bury Spinney. In the planning application for HRN2 the "AOD con 10" documents are applicable.

This new file they've sent me is bigger in legible scale than any in that planning folder at the current time. I did email a Highways officer on 28 Nov for information when the tree-felling began, but nothing came back. Qué será, será.

Here's the link to the large-scale file, now held on my Google Drive.



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