Protests over felled trees

CALLS have been flooding into the Forestry Commission about the number of trees being felled in an Uckfield wood - but the work has been praised by the commission.

Residents living near Paygate Wood in Snatts Road have been shocked by the extent of the clearance and fears were raised at the annual town meeting last week. Town and district councillor Mrs Martha Whittle agreed it looked 'absolutely awful'.

Mr Martin Gibbens, who with his wife Paula was worried about the work, said the first they knew about it was when their nine-year-old son Josh said the trees were being cut down. He put in calls to both the district council and the Forestry Commission.

But Jonathan Harding, area manager for the Forestry Commission, which licenced the work, said while he appreciated that the effect seemed drastic the work had been done 'quite well and quite normally' and should be beneficial to the wood.

He visited the site on Tuesday morning and said afterwards he was content with what had been done.

The wood had not been managed for a number of years and the oak had been thinned out and the understorey coppiced, mainly with birch but also some sweet chestnut. This would encourage young growth which would provide a different habitat to the rest of the wood, bringing diversity of life there.

Mr Harding said that the stumps where the trees had been cut were already producing young growth and patches of young oak regenerated from acorns had been left to provide the next generation of big trees.