Help save Loxley & Wadsley Common

[beckelina]

I agree with you hillsboro - the common was a result of management and the current plan is merely another form of management with the aim of retaining the common as we currently know it.

 

Is anyone here involved with the Wadsley & Loxley Commoners organisation? I'd be interested to hear their views.

 

Also do any of the traditional rights of common still hold sway, or do we just refer to the Common in name only?

[pininsho]

Certainly the openness of the common does seem to have deteriorated in the last few years. Especially standing on Loxley Edge, the rocky outcrop that seperates the two commons, where you used to get spectacular views along the Loxley Valley out towards Bradfield Dale with Dam Flask seperating the two. None of this is very visible anymore due to the mass of Silver Birch growth.

It would be interesting to see some 'then & now' photos so that we can judge for ourselves the changes that have taken place over the past 20 years or so.

[tree lover]

I would encourage everybody who loves trees to read this and vote against. Sheffield cannot afford to lose 2800 trees. so much for the green city.

[jomarch]

I was on the common this weekend. I haven't been up there for a while (I get put off by the dogs, and my- are they still there!!) and was quite surprised to see so many felled trees. More surprising was that the tops of the trees had just been laid on the ground- so twiggy-hills were everywhere, obviously not being burned by anyone, just rotting there as far as I could make out.

Seems to me that no one is, as yet, using them for fuel- and I doubt that they would provide much fuel anyway, being mostly saplings and not mature trees.

I have used the common on and off for years, walking with my kids (not dogs!) and now with my friends. I got lost up there in the trees (of which there still many) on Sunday, having reassured my friend that I knew exactly where I was going.

But that is what is such a pleasure about the common, that it is always changing- both with the seasons, and the prevailing environmental conditions. I am glad it isn't a sterile, over managed and manicured area- I just wish it wasn't the local dog owners social club!

I am a member of the Loxley and Wadsley commoners, not an active one- but just to support what I think is a valuable habitat for everyone to enjoy (including, I suppose, the dogs!!).

My friend made an interesting remark- she said (having never been up there before) that it was a heath, not a common,and wondered why it wasn't called such. She thought commons were on low ground, and heaths higher, although I'm no expert on these things.

So to the tree lovers- there are still way too many trees up there.

To the heath lovers- it does seem to be being managed.

To the council- those trees you seem to have felled already won't provide much fuel, and to the dog lovers- could you occasionally find somewhere else to take them?

[beckelina]

My friend made an interesting remark- she said (having never been up there before) that it was a heath, not a common,and wondered why it wasn't called such. She thought commons were on low ground, and heaths higher, although I'm no expert on these things.

?

 

It's called a 'common' because it was originally an area of land that had rights of common applied to it - this meant that the people who held these 'rights of common' (which were generally associated to a dwelling, farm or other holding) could graze their livestock freely over those areas.

Rights of common could apply to grazing, turf digging, collecting timber or anything which was defined in the rights, but didn;t apply to the general public, only to those individuals who held the rights.

[tree lover]

Let us get back to the facts about the tree felling on Loxley and Wadsley Commons. The rangers themselves do not dispute the following:

1. The Council have a licence to fell 2800 trees from now until 2012 (the 2112 was a mistype)

2. The trees are being used to fuel Council heating schemes. A local farmer is paid to shred the wood. It is then sold to a company who turn it into heating pellets. The Council then buy back the pellets to fuel their heating schemes.

3. There is no question of any trees being planted on the Commons or elsewhere to replace those felled.

4. The felling and burning of trees releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and adds to global warming. Trees are only carbon neutral if new ones are planted to replace those felled.

[beckelina]

Let us get back to the facts about the tree felling on Loxley and Wadsley Commons. The rangers themselves do not dispute the following:

1. The Council have a licence to fell 2800 trees from now until 2012 (the 2112 was a mistype)

2. The trees are being used to fuel Council heating schemes. A local farmer is paid to shred the wood. It is then sold to a company who turn it into heating pellets. The Council then buy back the pellets to fuel their heating schemes.

3. There is no question of any trees being planted on the Commons or elsewhere to replace those felled.

4. The felling and burning of trees releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and adds to global warming. Trees are only carbon neutral if new ones are planted to replace those felled.

 

 

Could you quote your source for these facts please?

Not disputing them, just need to know where they came from.

Thanks.

[hillsbro]

My friend made an interesting remark- she said (having never been up there before) that it was a heath, not a common, and wondered why it wasn't called such. ...the dog lovers- could you occasionally find somewhere else to take them?

 

"beckelina" is quite right - it's called a "common" because it is common land, and people who have "rights of common" could use the land for grazing their animals. But it is also a heath - that is, an example of what ecologists call "lowland heath" which has come about as a result of being used for grazing. Animals don't like to graze on heather; they prefer grass and seedling trees, and so over the centuries this has resulted in typical lowland heath vegetation, with the associated fauna. So in legal terms, Wadsley Common is common land, while botanically/ecologically it is lowland heath. See for example http://countrysideinfo.co.uk/heath_puzzle/puzzle.htm

 

Like many others I would be sorry to see the trees go, but I don't suppose that there is any proposal to remove trees completely in order to encourage pure lowland heath. Certainly, as "pininsho" wrote, what used to be a fine view over Loxley from the "crags" is now largely obstructed by the tall birches. Personally, I find the mixture of woodland and heathland a very pleasing environment for a walk - especially for a birdwatcher like me. Wadsley Common is home to a great many bird species, from green woodpeckers to whitethroats, from wood pigeons to willow warblers and from bullfinches to sparrowhawks. The first four species mentioned here, for example, would leave the common if there were no trees.

 

I quite agree about the dogs, but from what I have been told, surveys carried out by the Wadsley & Loxley Commoners etc. have shown that the vast majority of people who use the common (apparently about 90%) are dog-walkers. The fact is that most people nowadays don't seem inclined to enjoy a walk in the fresh air as much as people did a generation or two ago.

[tree lover]

Could you quote your source for these facts please?

Not disputing them, just need to know where they came from.

Thanks.

 

The Forestry Commission and the Council Rangers.

[spooferman]

Ive come across and interesting leaflet I thought others may be interested in aswell.

 

Save your Commons

 

Sheffield City Council have been granted a Forestry Commission licence to fell a total of 2800 trees on Wadsley and Loxley Commons by 2112, all to fuel Council heating systems.

 

This is in addition to those felled already (some of them without the necessary licence).

 

If nothing is done the Commons will soon be a bracken and bramble covered wilderness. There will be hardly any birds or mammals to be found and the wind will whistle across it. The soil will erode and water flood down into the valleys.

 

You can do something about this by complaining to any or all of the following people:

 

Your local councillors - c/o Town Hall, Sheffield, S1 2HH

 

Local councillors serving the area -

Arthur Dunworth - arthur.dunworth@sheffield.gov.uk

David Baker - david.baker@sheffield.gov.uk

Vickie Priestley - vickie.priestley@sheffield.gov.uk

 

Bradfield Parish Council -

bradfieldparish@aol.com

 

Jason Gallagher (the ranger in charge of the commons) -

jason.gallagher@sheffield.gov.uk

 

The Forestry Commission, Great Eastern House, Tenison Road, Cambridge, CB1 2DU

fcengland@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

 

Chris Grice (who dealt with the licence application)

chris.grice@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

 

Better still write to The Star and The Sheffield Telegraph and post your views here.

 

 

 

The Common is a managed environment. None of the current habitats would exist. If it wasn't under a management plan;

 

If this wasn’t done, the Common would revert back to be an out of control woodlands. And many of the rare plant and wild life would be lost.

 

I believe that the management plan is Part of the Donn Valley Conservation management plan. This covers a very wide expanse of land over south Yorkshire.

 

People need to research into such things before, raising posts with out the knowledge of what the conservation plan is