Bintree Woods must be saved : Green Party prospective MEP to join local residents in celebrating these woods, this Saturday. [News release]

Wensum ward Councillor and Green Party candidate for Eastern Region in the 2009 European elections Rupert Read will join a protest on December 6^th against the proposed destruction of Bintree Woods.

In February 2008 Norfolk County Council, in partnership with the Forestry Commission and local landowners, proposed the conversion of 1.7 square miles of land around and including Bintree Woods into the largest combined gravel extraction works and landfill site in Europe.

Bintree Woods includes a conservation area within its boundaries, is home to abundant wildlife and abuts the Wensum Valley, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is an important and beautiful recreation area and occupies a highly visible position elevated above the surrounding farmland.

Norfolk county council will decide in January whether to set in motion the process of seeking planning permission by including Bintree on its list of 'preferred' sites for gravel extraction.

As part of a vocal ongoing campaign to save the woods, local residents and supporters will hold a walk through them on December 6^th. It is timed to coincide with the Center for International Forestry Research's second World Forest Day in Poznan, Poland, which will bring together policy makers and agenda setters to draw attention to the links between forests and climate change.

Rupert Read will be joining the walkers and joining calls to scrap the gravel pit plans. He commented:

"Bintree Woods must be saved for us and our children and their children to enjoy. The Green Party is 100% committed to conserving our countryside, rather than consuming and destroying it. I am proud to have been invited to join the local people in celebrating these woods this weekend, and am looking forward to this walk immensely. It will be good to be walking at the same time as people all around the world are walking in defence of similar woods and forests, which are our great joy and our greatest defence against the threat of climate catastrophe."

ENDS.

Editor's notes:

Green Party policy on forestry:

The Green Party is strongly committed to protecting British forests and increasing the area of forest in the UK from the current level of 8% to around 25%, bringing the UK into line with other European countries. The Greens also aim to increase control over forests by local communities by encouraging the creation of 'community forests' managed by local committees or community associations.