A group that contributed £30,000 to enable Bradford on Avon Town Council to purchase Becky Addy Wood and preserve it for posterity, claims that plans to fell 152 trees will cause “irreparable damage” to the small ancient woodland and its wildlife - including rare bats at risk of extinction.

The council was able to complete the £45,000 purchase of the historic wood, first recorded in Saxon times, in April 2020 with two-thirds of the total being raised by local tree and nature lovers.

The Friends of Becky Addy Wood gave the council the money on the specific condition that the council would preserve the wood for nature but now say that plans to fell the trees without public consultation and scrutiny are “completely unacceptable”.

The group is “dismayed” by the council’s recent application – which FROBAW only heard about by chance – to the Forestry Commission for a licence to fell 152 trees, each of which is claimed to present an imminent risk to walkers.

There is concern that the plan is to fell all the trees within six months of the October tree survey, i.e. within the next four weeks during the bird nesting season and when rare spring plants are starting to flower.

Local resident David McQueen, 57, who lives in Upper Westwood, said: “I am horrified by the proposed felling which I believe will decimate the wood.”

“This is an absurd over-reaction to the threat of Ash Dieback with statistics showing there is a 1 in 11 million chance of being killed by a falling tree in the UK.”

“Experts say that as many as 50 per cent of the condemned ash trees could eventually recover - provided they are not destroyed.

"These threatened ash trees provide a habitat for endangered wildlife, including the very rare Bechstein’s bats which have been found living in the wood.

“This species, already threatened with extinction locally and especially sensitive to woodland clearance, will be at even greater risk. It is against the law for trees containing bat roosts to be felled without a proven risk to public safety.”

The council is basing its decision to fell the trees on a survey conducted last October but FROBAW argues that the council has ignored the advice of the UK government, the Woodland Trust, UK Wildlife Trusts and the Tree Council, all of which advise summer surveys.

Dr Iben Thomsen, the leading expert on Ash Dieback in Europe, involved in the very latest research, stated: “a tree survey must be done in the summer, not in the autumn when no accurate assessment is possible and then trees should be monitored for two consecutive years”.

A FROBAW spokesperson added: “Many trees in Becky Addy Wood claimed to be dead in the October tree survey have now been found by a local expert to be alive and full of Spring buds.

“We urge a more gradual approach, based on the very latest science, which recommends frequent monitoring and low intervention."

Bradford on Avon Mayor, Cllr Sarah Gibson said: “Bradford on Avon Town Council and the Friends of Becky Addy Wood held a meeting on Monday, March 14.

“The town council answered all the questions put forward by Friends of Becky Addy Wood committee members over several hours.

“During the meeting, the position and legal duties of the town council were fully explained to those present.

“The town council has a duty to manage its risk, as identified by a qualified independent tree expert.

“Failing to do so would not only put users of the footpaths at risk but also the town council in terms of liability.

“As previously stated, we have taken a forward-looking and ecological approach to managing the woodland.”

To comment on the council’s felling application, click here and enter Becky Addy Wood in the search box.