Trust is responsible landowner

We are not ignoring the flooding at Great Alne and sympathise with residents' frustrations.

When I was first notified of flooding at Coffee Pot Wood on February 13, I acted immediately. I visited the site the same day and found that a culvert had been blocked by debris from a fallen poplar tree. I hired contractors at once to remove the debris, which, incidentally, did not come from a tree on Woodland Trust property.

Smaller branches were cleared at once but some parts of the tree were huge and needed to be removed by mechanical digger. I was arranging this when I met the parish council on February 21. They informed me they had been told by the county council that they - the county council - would remove the very large pieces of the blown-over tree.

Just to make sure I had understood what the parish council told me, I e-mailed an individual at the county council asking him to confirm that removal of the rest of the tree was his intention. I had no reply, but left further work to remove the tree to the county council.

However, on March 21 Stratford Council asked that the Woodland Trust complete "works deemed necessary" in order to stop the flooding. I immediately contacted the district council to explain that the Woodland Trust would have done the work but for the fact the parish council advised that the county council was committed to complete the work. I even sent the district council a copy of the e-mail I'd sent to the county council asking for confirmation.

To cut what's becoming a very long story shorter, the county council had no record of receiving the e-mail. Concerned to get the work done, I told the district council that the Woodland Trust would complete the work as soon as possible, with a deadline of April 20.

Prior to this deadline, we did reinstate a roadside ditch which we hoped would catch backed-up flood water and prevent it from spilling onto the road. The trust also cleared all remaining large parts of the poplar tree. At the same time, we cleared wind-damaged trees in the wood to stop any more branches washing into the water course.

However, while doing this work, we have confirmed our suspicions that the underground culvert beneath the railway line is partially blocked. To the best of our knowledge this has never happened before and we can only assume that debris from the fallen poplar tree was washed into the culvert during heavy rain.

Unfortunately, this means we cannot clear the culvert until water levels subside. It may be that the obstruction can be cleared by hand. Failing this, the Trust has received quotes to use a power jet wash to clear the obstruction.

We get daily reports on water levels and are ready to start work as soon as the water falls to safe levels. Unfortunately, this means long-suffering residents may have to wait a little longer. In the interim, we hope the reinstated ditch will catch any further floodwater, thereby preventing the road from flooding once more.

I hope that concerned readers and the residents of Great Alne are able to see that the Woodland Trust is not ignoring its responsibilities and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many members of the community who have been forthcoming with both help and ideas regarding the flooding problem and management of the woodland.

Jeremy Evans

Woodland Officer

The Woodland Trust