Search is on for new community woodland – can you help

Possible ‘Roman or medieval heritage’ find scuppers Seend forest plan

Woodland charity Avon Needs Trees has been forced to abandon its purchase of 19 acres of land at Seend for a community forest.

The news follows a ‘magnetometry scan’ which revealed there could be buried heritage at the site, possibly of Roman or Medieval origin.

But the charity says its plans in the area are not over – and needs your help to find a new location for a permanent forest in the Melksham area. Several small parcels of land would also be welcome.

“We’re extremely disappointed, and we know that many locals in Seend are too,” said Nikki Jones, chair of Avon Needs Trees after announcing the end of the Seend project. “The magnetometry scan was requested by Wiltshire Archaeology Department, as part of our application for a change of land use. Nobody expected us to ‘hit the jackpot’, but the scan came back with a large number of anomalies that may, or may not, be of archaeological interest.”

Now though, the charity is looking for help from the community to find suitable land in the Melksham area.

“The land we need is ‘grade 3’ or below – i.e. not high quality agricultural land that we will be taking out of production.

“The charity’s objectives are to create new, permanent woodland – for carbon lock-up, improved biodiversity, natural flood management and public amenity space. So existing woodland is something we would consider only if it’s under threat or if it comes as part of a parcel with spare land for planting/rewilding.

“We are looking for land where we can ‘add value’. The wonderful thing about the land at Seend was its fantastic hedgerows, the existing natural pond and springs where more could have been created, and the fact that several neighbours were already doing good things on their land (meadow creation, orchard planting, organic farming. the Canal and Rivers Trust’s Jubilee Woods etc). 

“There was the chance to really build ‘connectivity’ so that any improvements we made did not stay as an island of good practice. 

“We now have the free advice of a very helpful heritage consultant who is prepared to do a quick survey of records for any piece of land we look at. This should stop us getting into the Seend situation again. 

“Where there is a high risk of buried heritage, we will have to leave the land alone. On land where we will be planting less than two hectares, we are not obliged to get ‘change of use’ permission, so small patches are an option for us. 

“We would like to continue our efforts in Wiltshire. We’re now looking for other sections of land to buy, and hope that we can find something in the area of Melksham,” added Nikki. “We’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has suggestions of land that might be suitable for us.”

If you would like to       suggest a piece of land for the charity to purchase, email: contact@avonneeds trees.org.uk