[Diggers350] Sat24Nov - RUNNYMEDE - Land & Freedom gathering

[david bangs]

Yes, Ian, if I expected any kind of response from yourselves it was of the 
sort which you have given...describing the heart of the site as 
'wasteland'...

Woodland...including ancient woodland...is not just closed canopy stands of 
trees. It includes areas of open ground (rides, glades, meadows, pools, 
swamps) and pioneering regrowth (of opportunist species like your Sycamore 
and Ash and thorny and bushy species, like Hawthorn, Roses, Sallow et al).

Even areas of wholly cleared ground (and I have several in mind which were 
clear-felled for forestry and development purposes) still retain the status 
of ancient woodland, for their soils, root systems and seed beds remain 
intact.

In one recent Sussex controversy developers argued that an area of ancient 
woodland which had been turned into meadow at its heart was NOT ancient 
woodland, and the planning debate turned on just the kind of argument that 
you have just made...Luckily we won, because our experts were able to show 
that ancient woodland is, in fact, a matrix of complementary habitats...

Your coppicing is not at the heart of the matter (though you demonstrate no 
local legitimacy beyond the concept of 'finders-keepers', and confuse the 
benefit to yourselves of the coppicing and the benefit to nature, which is a 
matter of judgement)...

Your settlement and habitation of the site, however, IS at the heart of the 
matter...and is in the best opportunist tradition.

The Vale of the Thames is one of the most endangered natural 
areas...endangered by many kinds of human settlement and building 
activity...airports, gravel digging, roads, housing, industry, et al. It is 
a dreadful mess...Its relict semi-natural habitat is under huge pressure 
from all kinds of subtle and not-so-subtle intensifications...including many 
recreational ones, such as wargaming, shooting, horseyculture, and 
homesteading.

Every rich so-and-so want to put a gazebo, man's house, children's house, 
fancy tree house, party barbie area, fishing platform, gallops, exotic 
arboretum, pheasant pen, caravan park, storage ground, etc etc etc in their 
own bit of private woodland....and your settlement of this ancient woodland 
is qualitatively NO different from their activities...

Our countryside desperately needs to be open to all...so that we can 
re-connect with nature...but, with a population of our size, it will only 
retain its intrinsic qualities if it is treated with the utmost respect by 
all its users.

Your private dream is other folks painful and damaging intrusion...

Dave Bangs
PS. With reference to your notion of a 'vendetta', Ian, I can only say that 
I make my case robustly...and you should learn that a robust democratic 
debate is a long, long way from being a vendetta...



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ian" <ian.stardust at ukgateway.net>
To: "david bangs" <dave.bangs at virgin.net>; <diggers360 at lists.riseup.net>; 
<theLandIsOurs at yahoogroups.com>; <diggers at lists.riseup.net>; 
<diggers350 at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 12:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Diggers350] Sat24Nov - RUNNYMEDE - Land & Freedom gathering


In a attempt to put the record straight and having looked quite closely at 
the tree distribution
of the Runnymede site, it is very far from ancient woodland. It is a site 
that has been cleared
sometime about halfway through the last century. After that there has been 
little attempt at
woodland management. It has become very overgrown with Sycamore, the only 
trees
managing to compete in any numbers being Ash, which also grows very quickly. 
Around the
margins, there are indeed a better variety of trees including a few very old 
ones, but the
main part of the wood is indeed wasteland which can only benefit from the 
coppice felling of
some of the sycamores. We are next to National Trust land, which is being 
managed and
whose trees we have not touched. Having spoken with the NT rangers, they 
have no real
problems with what we are doing over the fence. We have invited Dave Bangs 
to come and
visit us and see for himself, but he hasn't. It feels like he is conducting 
a vendetta against
us.

Ian

On 13 Nov 2012 at 21:51, david bangs wrote:

>
>
>
> The description Simon gives of the Runnymede site as "disused land" is 
> wholly misleading. The
> site is, in fact, ancient woodland, a description which is used to denote 
> woodland with a likely
> ecological continuity back to the year 1600.
> After a long and uphill struggle conservationists have, in recent 
> years,succeeded in getting
> recognition in national planning procedures for the value of ancient 
> woodland, with a presumption
> that it not be developed.
> The implication, therefore, that this is an appropriate site for 'low 
> impact', or any other settled
> development, is disingenuous at best.
> Indeed, Simon's use of language places him in the best tradition of 
> predatory developers...who
> specialise in such disimulating language.
> NO relict semi-natural habitat, be it ancient woodland, heath, archaic 
> grassland, wetland, or
> wotever, should be homesteaded.
> It's exhausting enough having to fight mainstream capitalist developers 
> without having to fight
> daft folk on our side who should know better...
> Dave Bangs
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Simon Moore
>
> To: Gareth Newnham
>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 7:03 PM
>
> Subject: [Diggers350] Sat24Nov - RUNNYMEDE - Land & Freedom gathering
>
>
>
>     Hello,
>
>     You
>     are invited to the Land & Freedom Gathering which is taking place
>     at Runnymede Eco-Village, near Englefield Green, Surrey on Saturday 
> 24th
>     November. All ages are welcome.
>     A full schedule of the days event can be seen below.
>     For directions, transport information and a map please visit:
>     www.diggers2012.wordpress.com/map
>
>     Schedule for the Land & Freedom Gathering.
>
>     Hot
>     drinks will be available. Please bring food and refreshments if you
>     can. We recommend wearing suitable footwear as it can get muddy.
>     Its all free. We welcome donations.
>
>     12-4 p.m workshops.
>
>     -Spoon Carving & Green Wood-working. Julian.
>     -Clay Sculpture- Stephen Vince.
>     -Make your own waterproofing naturally- Phillipa Auton.
>     -Introduction to Permaculture- Andy B + Matyas.
>
>     4-6 p.m Talks in the Geodome.
>
>     up to 20 minutes each + questions + discussion.
>     -'Why land
>     rights are civil rights': Kevin Cahill author of Who Owns Britain.
>     -'The radical history of Egham + Diggers': Prof Justin Champion Royal 
> Holloway Uni.
>     -'Planning law, land and livelihoods': Mike Hannis, The Land Magazine.
>     -'Internet livestream feed from Ghana': Mawukofi, Communities of 
> Resistance, Ghana.
>
>     6.30-7.30 p.m spoken word & music jam.
>
>     7.45-9.00 p.m bike powered cinema
>
>     About Runnymede Eco-village:
>
>     Runnymede
>     Eco-village is home to a group of people attempting to live in a low
>     impact sustainable community established on Friday 15th June. It is
>     located on the disused land of the former Brunel University Runnymede
>     Campus which has remained vacant since being purchased by property
>     developers 7 years ago. Since being on the land, we have built low
>     impact structures, dug a well and set up renewable energy production
>     systems.
>
>     For more info on the project, please visit:
>     www.diggers2012.wordpress.com
>