Taking up your concerns

Thanks to everyone who has filled in our survey recently - you can fill it in online here.

We have been busy following up the issues you raised. Claire Young took up the issue of anti-social behaviour at the bottom of St Saviour's Rise with the police beat manager at the Community Engagement Forum. He assured us the police will be keeping an eye on this location as the weather warms up.

Residents living alongside the drainage channel on Park Farm where oak trees were axed were furious that their local environment had been trashed without any notice or discussion.

Pat Hockey and Dave took the matter up with South Glos Council’s Tree Officers as they had put a blanket tree preservation order (TPO) on all oak trees on both Park Farm and The Meads estates before the sites were developed – Pat and Dave had not realised that oak trees by drainage channels were not covered by the TPO.

Officers confirmed that just one other oak tree by a drainage channel was still at risk - they agreed to put a Tree Preservation Order on it as a matter of priority to protect it.

Volunteers start major tree planting programme at Wapley Bushes

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is carrying out a major programme of tree planting this autumn and winter, to deal with the threat of Ash Dieback Disease. This disease is carried by a fungus. Mature trees are the most affected - they lose their leaves and the crown dies back. It's within a dozen miles of Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve. If something isn't done now, within twenty years we will have lost all the high canopy in Wapley Woods.

The Conservation Group has come up with a scheme to plant other large native species throughout the woodland. This season they will be planting 90 to 100 trees - Oak, Lime, Black Poplar, Whitebeam and Wild Service trees. They are all native to the West of England area.

Hopefully members of the local community will come along and help preserve this wonderful woodland. Families with children are particularly welcome - it's really planting for the future. The Conservation Group supply the trees, the tools and gloves, people just need to wear wellies or stout footwear.

The first planting morning will be at 10.00 am on Saturday 18 November at the Shire Way entrance to the Nature Reserve, opposite the road entrance to Cherington, BS37 8US. There will also be planting sessions on Sunday 18 February and Saturday 18 March. The trees and preparation work are being financed by the landowners, Dodington Parish Council.

Conservation volunteers work with Europe to defeat elm disease

On Saturday Claire Young (right) joined members of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group to plant new elm trees on Dodington Parish Council land.

Over the last few decades Dutch Elm Disease, a fungus spread by bark beetles, has devastated the British elm population to the extent that many people have never seen a live mature elm tree.

Now however a multinational project involving Wapley bushes may hold the key to repopulating elms in the UK. Members of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group discovered a a native Wych Elm on the reserve that has remained unaffected by the disease, and they have have sent seeds from to the French national State Forestry Nursery for analysis to assess the extent of disease resistance.

The aim of the European project is to identify types of elm that are resistant to the disease so that eventually the resistant specimens can be planted out to repopulate the European countryside and help the many species that are dependent upon elms.

Tim Fairhead (also pictured above) of the Conservation Group explains “In return we received seeds from ancient elm trees in a French Nature Reserve, and these were grown on at Portsmouth University. These particular trees contain high levels of unique bark compounds that deter feeding by the beetles so they are less likely to get infected in the first place. We hope these trees will go on to provide a resource and home for threatened and vulnerable species like the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly”

This is the only elm repopulation project of its type in the South West and one of only four sites in the UK.