Jayne Howarth speaks to members of Greenacres Model Aero Club, which has criticised the council for the planting of trees at Aldridge airport.
A club that meets at Aldridge Airport is reporting Walsall Council to the Local Government Ombudsman, claiming it has failed to consult locals over the planting of thousands of trees at the park.
Children with model aircraft at Aldridge Airport
Greenacres Model Aero Club has used the Bosty Lane leisure facility since the early 1990s – although a model aircraft club has used the site since 1947 – but its members have expressed their anger after approximately 19,000 trees were planted there last year without public consultation.
The 30-acre woodland is a Severn Trent Water initiative to create 2022 acres of Commonwealth Forest across the Midlands as part of its social and environmental legacy following last year’s Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Commonwealth Forest comprises native, UK-grown broadleaf species and is an extension of Hayhead Wood, creating a nature corridor between Walsall Arboretum and Birch Wood, behind Sutton Road.
However, Mark Travers, treasurer of Greenacres Model Aero Club, said the council did no public consultation on the planting.
The club, which pays the council about £3000 a year to enable it to fly its model aircraft there, has spent the past year complaining to the local authority about its actions, to no avail, and has now been forced to contact the Local Government Ombudsman.
“It was purely by accident that we found out the afternoon before planting started,” he said.
Aldridge airport planting
“As we have to pay to use the park we believe we should have been consulted, and ideally there should have been a public consultation, but this never happened. I’ve been told that no consultation was done due to there not being enough time to hold one and as the land is owned by the council then they can do what they want.
“We are all in favour of planting, but trees must be planted in the right place. As far as we are concerned, eliminating over 60% of the park area from leisure activities is not the way to go about it.
“In emails, members of the council have admitted mistakes were made and we have submitted complaints over the actions and behaviour to the council. As nothing has been done, we are left with only one course of action and that’s to the Local Government Ombudsman.”
The club claims to plant the trees, permission was required from the Forestry Commission via an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which states how the land was used and what was planned.
Jim McHugh, chairman of the club, said: “In complete breach of their own consultation process documents, and the Forestry Commission guidance, Walsall Council did not tell Severn Trent, which was preparing the EIA for the Forestry Commission, about any of the paying users of the park.
“Because of this, the ‘recreational use’ section of the EIA was left completely blank, even though we pay the council to use the site. In my opinion, this represents an incomplete or misleading EIA submission to the Forestry Commission.”
A spokesperson for Walsall Council said: “This scheme forms part of the creation of 2,022 acres of Commonwealth Forests, as well as 72 tennis-court-sized Tiny Forests across the West Midlands to leave a social and environmental legacy following Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“As the land being planted did not include the area used by the club for taking off and landing it was assumed that any impact would be minimal.
“The tree planting was paused when the council became aware of the concerns of the club and a compromise was worked on which involved moving the planting away from the club’s take off/landing area. It quickly became apparent that this was not acceptable to the club and the planting remained on hold.
“Consideration was given to the assertion by the club that the planting would have a significant impact on the club’s activities as the planting matures. This was weighed against the council’s pledge to plant more trees and the need to take action to mitigate climate change and it was concluded that the revised planting should be completed.”