Fundraiser to Save Rotary Wood, The Pinewoods

Sarah Gibbs is organizing this fundraiser to benefit THE PINEWOODS CONSERVATION GROUP.

Hello, my name is Sarah, AKA 'The Tree Lady'! I work with the campaign 'Save The Pinewoods, Rotary Wood. Trees NOT plastic. Say NO! to Danone!'

Rotary Wood is a designated Asset of Community Value woodland. It was planted over 19 years ago by community groups and local school children to commemorate the Rotary centenary and to tackle climate change. Our 4.25-acre woodland is a beautiful, thriving green space with public access throughout the entire area. It is well-used and well-loved by the community, supporting physical and emotional wellbeing. Rotary Wood supports a variety of flora and fauna, including protected species and local priority species. Our woodland is now at the stage for optimal carbon sequestration, supporting a sustainable future.

Our woodland is still under threat from Danone/Harrogate Spring Water (HSW) development plans. Danone/HSW intend to expand their existing single-use plastic water bottling plant into our community woodland. The plant currently produces 200 million single-use plastic bottles annually to ship across the UK and globally. The recent 2023 Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Climate Change Report states the necessity to ‘HALT deforestation’ now (www.ipcc.ch). New woodland creation must take place alongside protecting and maintaining existing woodland, not as ‘mitigation’ for deforestation. The negative implications this development poses on a local and global scale are not to be ignored during the current climate emergency.

Current ecological surveys and bat surveys provided by HSW are insufficient. There are no badger surveys, despite us submitting documented evidence of badgers commuting and foraging on site in our recent objections. There are no current tree surveys and ‘Mitigation’ plans are insufficient and questionable. North Yorkshire Council’s tree expert has said that he is currently “not in a position to support” this expansion. Already over 500 members of the community have objected to the current Reserved Matters (you can still object by emailing Jillian Rann at NYCC: [email redacted].uk referencing the code: 20/01539/REMMAJ).

We are asking for your support to raise funds for the campaign. All money raised will contribute towards paying for important surveys, monitoring equipment, advertising, and other less important costs such as printing and flyers. Currently, surveys are our priority.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sarah