The Campaign
Our campaign was started by local residents, concerned at the likely impact of HS2 construction on local wildlife, particularly the many species of bats traversing the line of oak trees beside the lane . We are working to preserve as much of the existing lanes and as many trees as possible, to retain connectivity for wildlife, and for the maximum possible mitigation for the adverse effects of HS2 construction on our Lanes.
We are also campaigning to preserve Ilona, the Lone Oak, situated a hundred yards south of the lane, and also threatened by HS2
This video gives a brief history of our campaign –
Our successes so far –
- Saved 88 trees from felling
- Made HS2 accept that Leather Lane is a vital bat corridor, so that they agreed to provide mitigation for when trees were felled.
- Ensured that Bucks Council and EKFB adhere to the Design Principles submitted by the Chiltern Conservation Board by requesting that new over-road is a narrower construction than the standard 2 way road originally planned by HS2
- Held HS2 to account for retaining as many of the remaining oaks in Leather Lane as possible when reviewing their designs
- Prevented felling of the Oak trees at nearby Bowood Lane by carrying out bat surveys; we discovered a potential bat roost. EKFB then suspended their works as we discovered (through an FOI request) that they had no licences in place.
This page describes how we plan to build on these successes. See our news page for latest progress.