High Court Judge grants permission for HS2 to destroy Jones Hill Wood in shocking U-turn

From the Jones’ Hill Wood Campaigners – originally published here

In a shocking U-turn of events, High Court Judge, Mr Justice Holgate refused permission for Mark Keir (representing the Jones Hill Wood Earth protectors) to apply for judicial review and lifted the injunction which had been placed to suspend the felling of Jones Hill Wood until a full legal case was heard.

Mr Keir has instructed his solicitors to appeal the judgment to the Court of Appeal.

“We aim to be in a position to do so before the end of the week. The focus of the grounds of appeal will be on the lawfulness of what Natural England admitted in the licence decision and in documents before the Court as the “extreme use” of Licencing Policy 4.”

Lisa Foster, Richard Buxton Solicitors.

However, as matters stand with the injunction now lifted felling can re-commence imminently at Jones Hill Wood. Tragically, despite the wealth of evidence to support the need for wildlife protection at Jones Hill Wood the weight of importance instead falls on how much will be lost financially to HS2 if there are further delays and targets are not met. After a long campaign to save this wood, supported by The Woodland Trust, Wildlife Trusts, Chiltern Conservation

board, CPRE and thousands of locals, this ancient iconic site, home to the Fantastic Mr.Fox and many rare species, has been given the go ahead to be destroyed.

“This is a dismal decision, it allows HS2 to carry on with no care to our environment and show little regard to compensation. Jones Hill is lost, lost to hideous miserly mitigation. We must stop this happening elsewhere.”

– Mark Keir ( Earth Protector)

LP4 Licences are normally used in limited circumstances like a domestic roof extension and not for major infrastructure projects. They enable Natural England to relax certain wildlife survey standards and make decisions on a licence application. However, LP4 was not intended for frequent use nor in circumstances where there are rare protected species present. In the claimant/s expert evidence before the Court, Mr. Dominic Woodfield, Bioscan stated:

“As is explicit in NE’s own internal guidance …Licencing Policy 4 is not intended for frequent use and “ is the exception rather than rule…I am not aware of LP4 being used in a comparative situation to that at Jones Hill Wood – i.e. a situation where such a broad suite of roosts specifically including maternity roosts of a rare species [the barbastelle bat] are assumed to be lost.”

The case raises a very important issue where sensitive ecological habitats are threatened by nationally important infrastructure like HS2. What happened in this case is not a “one off” licencing decision by Natural England and the judgement matters far beyond the ancient woodland trees at Jones Hill Woods. It creates a very dangerous precedent for HS2 and other developers…

Mr Keir feels that the judgment could set an alarming precedent for protected species by effectively rewarding HS2 for who failed to carry out surveys to industry standards, in a timely manner and inadequate detail to support the licencing decision.

What is concerning is how wildlife protection laws can be so easily overridden by lowering the bar in this way, especially when there are endangered species at risk. Further questions are now raised about the future of our hedgerows, corridors and habitats which our wildlife so desperately need.

Todays’ decision has sent shockwaves through the environmental communities and supporting bodies. Only weeks ago The Woodland Trust released their State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2021 report which revealed our ancient woodlands to be
“at crisis point”.

The report states that “With each ancient woodland lost, we lose a part of our cultural heritage and the special wildlife that depends on it.”

In no place could this be more true that at Roald Dahl’s Wood where rare bats like the barbastelle bat have been recorded.

Barbastelle bats are strongly associated with complex ancient woodlands, needing a variety of roost type and habitat features. There are no proven instances where the loss of barbastelle maternity roosts being compensated for by sticking up a few bat boxes. To grant a licence on this basis fails all the relevant regulatory tests.

The Woodland Trust, RSPB, CPRE and Chilterns Conservation Board have all spoken out in support of the legal challenge (please see here). This comes as The Woodland Trust released a report stating that UK woods are at crisis point and under a barrage of threats. The report notes that ancient forests cover 2.5% of the UK but it was highlighted that 1,225 of these are under threat of destruction for development.

Natural England, who also contested permission in the case, have also been accused of regulatory failure after not suspending the licence after being presented with evidence that:

• One third of HS2’s bat boxes had been illegally placed after the landowner explicitly refused access, removed by the landowner, but inaccurately been declared as being placed with consent in the licence application.
• The remaining mitigation consisted of floodlit bat boxes – floodlighting a bat roost can kill bats through starvation and entombment.
• Members of the public had recorded trees with Potential Roosting Features being felled, seemingly without checks for several days, and put straight in the chipper.
• Barbastelle bats are known to change roosts frequently and members of the public once again accused HS2 of putting bats through the chipper.

https://twitter.com/RSPBEngland/status/1382604615334699010

Dr Elaine King, Chief Executive of the Chilterns Conservation Board stated:

“The way this licence was obtained is morally wrong. In relying on the provisions in the HS2 Act, HS2 Ltd is failing to conduct the necessary ecological surveys in good time, and is limiting opportunities to scrutinise its plans and activities. As a result, licensing authorities have little choice but to issue licences and accept a ‘lower than standard survey effort’. This approach is not in line with HS2 Ltd’s commitment to uphold the highest environmental standards and respect the sensitive and special nature of this protected landscape.”

The concerns raised about the felling of Jones Hill Wood should be investigated fully.

Since the outset of the #HS2 project woodlands and wildlife have been de-prioritised, or worse have been overlooked.https://t.co/3TewdCrLNC pic.twitter.com/fMZt6XNmSm

— Woodland Trust🌳 (@WoodlandTrust) April 14, 2021

In order to keep fighting for justice, we must raise more funds to keep this legal case going. Even if we lose Jones Hill Wood we can not let this keep happening. Please do share this crowdfunding link –
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/protect-jones-hill-wood-from-h/
. The money we have raised so far is already accounted for and each legal step costs huge amounts. We are up against a multi-billion pound corporate giant but need to make our voices heard and stand up for the ancient sites we have left.