Following the launch of our Cumberland Avenue plans, the local Area Committee of Argyll and Bute Council passed the following motion on 21 December 2017:
“The Helensburgh & Lomond Area Committee:
1. Notes the proposals for the Cumberland Avenue site that the Helensburgh Community Woodlands Group (HCWG) has developed, based on local consultation
2. Welcomes the Helensburgh Community Woodlands Group’s aspirations to ensure that this green space is developed appropriately, including:
a) Reinstating and maintaining broadleaved woodland
b) Ensuring public access through the site
c) Enhancing the biodiversity of the site.”
The motion was proposed by Councillor Aileen Morton (Council Leader) and seconded by Councillor Gary Mulvaney (Depute Council Leader), and was passed unanimously by the Committee.
David Adams, HCWG Convenor, commented “We are delighted that our proposals for Cumberland Avenue have been welcomed across all parties on the Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee and we look forward to liaising closely with Argyll and Bute Council as we now seek to turn them into reality.”
Our plans to transform the Cumberland Avenue land into a real environment asset for everyone’s benefit, launched at our AGM in November, are now available for download. These plans have been drawn up by our environmental consultant, Iona Hyde, and reflect the preferences of local people expressed at an open meeting held at Lomond School Sports Hall in May 2017.
The key proposals are to:
Reinstate and maintain broadleaved woodland at varying densities throughout most of the site
Reinstate public access through the site, particularly the link path from Cumberland Avenue to West King Street
Create a circular all-abilities path within the northern part of the site
Create and maintain a managed open meadow area within the north of the site
Enhance the biodiversity value of the site by managing the developing woodland to provide habitat for associated woodland species
Create and maintain a species rich herb layer within the developing woodland to encourage colonisation of the site by native pollinators and other invertebrates
Remove all Himalayan balsam and ensure that the site remains free from all invasive non-native species, including garden escapees
Manage site boundaries to ensure on-going security and privacy of neighbouring properties while ensuring that site amenity is not compromised
Encourage responsible use of the site by dog-owners
Encourage active, on-going community involvement in development and management of the site
David Adams, HCWG Convenor said: “The launch of these detailed plans, which have been drawn up in close consultation with the local community, represents a major step forward in our campaign to transform the land at Cumberland Avenue. They offer a new future for the land after years of neglect and controversy. We are confident that if we can acquire the land, we will be able to secure the necessary funding to implement what will be a significant project for Helensburgh.”
The plans have been welcomed by Councillor Aileen Morton, Leader of Argyll and Bute Council and by Norman Muir, Convenor of Helensburgh Community Council, as reported in the Helensburgh Advertiser on 14 December [PDF 948kB].
Over 40 people came together for two hours on the afternoon of Saturday 20 May, to plan a brighter future for the land at Cumberland Avenue. Alongside local residents, attendees at the consultative event organised by HCWG included Councillor Aileen Morton (Local Ward Councillor and Leader of Argyll and Bute Council), Councillor Lorna Douglas (Local Ward Councillor), representatives of the Friends of Duchess Wood, and the two current owners of the land (Mrs Margery Osborne and Mr Thomas Paterson).
The meeting started with a presentation on future options from David Robertson of HCWG and Iona Hyde, an arboricultural consultant who has been commissioned by HCWG to help prepare a management plan for the land. The meeting then split into small workshops allowing everyone present to table their own particular ideas and suggestions.
Before the meeting, Trevor Welch of Helensburgh and District Civic Society presented HCWG with a cheque for £1,000 as part of its distribution of funds consequent on the winding up of the society, and in recognition of HCWG’s efforts to retain and enhance Castle Woods and the land at Cumberland Avenue as important open spaces within the town.
David Adams, HCWG Convenor said “HCWG now intends to use the numerous comments and suggestions gathered at this event to prepare a detailed management plan for the land as an important step towards the community buy-out. We are also particularly grateful for the financial support from Helensburgh and District Civic Society which we shall use to help bring the Cumberland Avenue land and Castle Woods into community ownership.”
Following our success at Cumberland Avenue last month, Scottish Ministers have now approved our application to register a community interest in Castle Woods. This again means that the owners are now prohibited from selling to any party other than HCWG. We now intend to redouble our efforts to bring both sites into community ownership and believe this could be possible by the end of 2018.
In making their decision, Scottish Ministers stated that “they are satisfied that the proposed application to register an interest in land known as Castle Woods is in the public interest. HCWG’S aspirations show intent to address the needs identified and supported by the local community and, if HCWG are successful in acquiring the land in the future, the sustainable development proposals by HCWG should benefit the local community, the wider Helensburgh community and the wider area through ensuring the land is used for the benefit of the community through the provision of a long-term land and forestry management plan for the land known as Castle Woods, which will help promote the general and social, environmental and economic well-being of the community.”
HCWG has long campaigned to preserve and enhance Castle Woods, which is an area of ancient semi-natural woodland that forms an important ecological extension of the local nature reserve of Duchess Woods. It is protected by a Tree Preservation Order, designated as an Open Space Protection Area, and identified as a local Key Environmental Feature. The northern part is a Local Nature Conservation Site. Unfortunately, however, for over a decade the landowners have sought to turn Castle Woods into a 72-unit housing estate.
David Adams, HCWG Convenor, said: “We are delighted to have Scottish Government’s backing for transforming Castle Woods into a community-owned asset for everyone’s benefit. HCWG produced a draft management plan for the woods in 2012 which received widespread support in the local community. In 2013, we almost secured very substantial funding from the Armed Forces Community Covenant Fund to implement the plan and we have been encouraged to re-apply if the owners can be persuaded to sell. Now that the Scottish Government has approved our application, we will be seeking to meet the owners to discuss the long-term future of Castle Woods.”
HCWG’s application to register a community interest in the land at Cumberland Avenue was approved by Scottish Ministers on 2 November. This is the first step towards a community buy-out and it means that the landowners are now prohibited from selling to any other party than HCWG. This means we can now legitimately see ourselves as the future owners of the land and make active plans to bring this about.
Significantly, this was only the second such decision in the whole of Scotland since the ‘Community Right to Buy’ provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 were extended to urban areas in April 2016. (The first such decision was in October at Portobello, Edinburgh.)
HCWG is highly encouraged by the very positive support given in the decision letter from the Scottish Government, which stated that: “Scottish Ministers believe that, if successfully delivered, HCWG’s proposals could contribute positively to the sustainable development of the land and the local community of Helensburgh.”
David Adams, HCWG Convenor, said: “I’m delighted that our application to register a community interest in the land at Cumberland Avenue has been approved by the Scottish Government. As the next stage in our campaign to bring the land at into community ownership, we will soon be holding a public consultation event to enable the local community draw up detailed plans for the future of the site.”
HCWG expects to hear the outcome of the related application at Castle Woods, Helensburgh around Christmas.
HCWG has submitted applications to the Scottish Government to register a community interest in sites at Cumberland Avenue and Castle Woods, Helensburgh. If the applications are approved, they would enable HCWG to trigger the ‘Community Right to Buy’ provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, should the current owners decide to sell. These important powers were only extended to urban Scotland in April 2016. Consequently, HCWG is one of the first community bodies in an urban area within Scotland to seek to take advantage of this legislation.
David Adams, HCWG Convenor said “There has been a long history of controversy around these sites as the current owners have relentlessly, but unsuccessfully, tried to persuade Argyll and Bute Council to set aside well-established environmental protections and allow the sites to be developed for housing. In the meantime, local residents have become increasingly concerned at the way in which the owners have allowed the condition of both sites to deteriorate. HCWG now intends to offer them a brighter future. Applying to register a community interest is the first step towards bringing them into community ownership. HCWG is determined to transform Castle Woods and the land at Cumberland Avenue into community woodlands that will provide real environmental assets for the people of Helensburgh.”
HCWG has today published a summary of the comments received from a number of locally-knowledgeable experts on the independent report it commissioned from Donald McPhillimy B. Ecol. Sci. (Hons. Forestry) M.I.C.For. These can be downloaded here. [92KB PDF]
Among these comments, the Biodiversity Officer for Argyll & Bute Council stated that “Mr. McPhillimy has produced an insightful report with sensible recommendations.” The local Operations Officer for Scottish Natural Heritage supported Mr McPhillimy’s recommendation in favour of community ownership of Castle Woods as “the most beneficial option for the local natural heritage interests”, while the local Woodland Officer for Forestry Commission Scotland concluded that the “report accurately reflects the current condition of the woodlands and that the management proposals contained within the plan, including managing invasive non-native species and enrichment planting of trees, would help contribute to sustainable management of the woodland.”
Sandy Kerr from the Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust felt that “it would be sensible to see the Community Woodland (at Castle Woods) as part of an ecological corridor including Duchess Wood” while Stewart Campbell from the Friends of Duchess Wood pointed out to ecological and historical similarities between the two woodland areas and emphasised that “Having an accessible and managed Castle Wood could help relieve some of this pressure (at Duchess Wood), and enable both woodlands to develop a better balance between access, education, and habitat protection.”
David Adams, HCWG Convenor commented: “The validity of Donald McPhillimy’s analysis and recommendations has been tested and supported by other experts in the field. We cannot allow the current owners of Castle Woods to preside over another ten years of further deterioration in its condition. We shall be pressing Argyll and Bute Council to help us bring the woods into community ownership as soon as possible.”
An independent report commissioned by HCWG from the highly respected Scottish forestry expert, Donald McPhillimy, says Castle Wood has suffered at least 10 years of neglect. Despite being on the Ancient Woodland register and carrying the local authority designations of Tree Preservation Order (TPO), Local Nature Conservation Site (LNCS) and Open Space Protection Area (OSPA) it has continued to decline. This is in stark contrast to the adjacent and well managed Duchess Wood, which is much larger and much better managed.
According to Mr McPhillemy, the key issues are firstly, invasive species in the form of laurel, Rhododendron ponticum and to a lesser extent, sycamore. Secondly, drains have become blocked and the woodland is very wet in places. Some water is seeping out and causing a hazard for adjacent properties. Thirdly, a few trees are leaning out over neighbouring properties and are a cause for concern. Finally, the wood is suffering from low level anti-social behaviour, mainly in the form of littering.
Mr McPhillemy concluded that locally responsive community management offers the best hope to reverse the decline in fortune suffered through the abandonment of Castle Wood. HCWG remains determined to bring this about as soon as possible.
HCWG’s longstanding campaign to restore the former woodland at Cumberland Avenue has been boosted by an appeal decision from the Scottish Government issued on 22 October. This confirmed the notice issued by Argyll and Bute Council giving the landowners four months to remove the large pile of logs left on the site since the woodland was felled in April and May 2011.
In making this decision, the Scottish Government Reporter stated that “The log pile, and the trunks and branches comprising it, are substantial in scale and visually prominent in views from Cumberland Avenue and adjoining residential properties. I do not regard the log pile as a feature that would be expected or characteristic of an open area within a residential environment. I find it to be visually incongruous, and to detract from the appearance of the site and the character of the locality.” These arguments had long been put forward by HCWG and were eventually supported by the Council.
Unfortunately, a second Section 179 notice, requiring the removal of an adjacent bund or mound of debris was quashed by the same Reporter who said “Overall, I do not find the bund to be visually incongruous or obtrusive so as to detract from the appearance of the site or the character of the locality. Its presence on the land does not adversely affect the amenity of the area, and the appeal therefore succeeds.”
Significantly, the Reporter’s opinion about the bund was not shared by the 318 people who signed the HCWG petition to Argyll and Bute Council in April 2015, nor by the four local councillors who supported our campaign, nor by the 11 elected councillors sitting on the Council’s PPSL Committee who unanimously decided that the owners should be required to remove the bund.
Even so, HCWG’s campaigns have resulted in significant improvements at Cumberland Avenue over the past two years with building materials unlawfully stored on the site taken away, new trees planted by the local authority, the perimeter fence reduced in height and with the removal of the log pile now in prospect.
Following HCWG’s campaign to secure the removal of all the logs and debris left behind from the Cumberland Avenue felling four years ago, we understand that Argyll and Bute Council now intends to serve notices before the end of May requiring the landowners to clear out the large pile of logs near the road along with the adjacent mound of debris.
This must be just the first step in getting rid of all the mess left from the 2011 felling. All the other mounds are equally unsightly and dangerous, and they must all be removed. They certainly have no long-term place in a designated Open Space Protection Area. We trust Council planners will soon respond to the strength of local feeling about this, as shown by the recent petition and fully supported by Jackie Baillie MSP and our local councillors, Maurice Corry, Aileen Morton, Gary Mulvaney and James Robb, and make sure the job is finished in full.
Our goal is to protect this nature conservation site and make it accessible to support the health and wellbeing of our community. Public support is vital to our success. Thank you for your help.
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