I WOULD like to comment on the article which appeared recently in the Gazette with regard to the Stanway planning application.

The residents concerned are not objecting to this on the grounds of Nimbyism, but because this woodland has been here for a very long time.

It contains trees with preservation orders on them and houses a lot of wildlife, including a bat colony, owls, woodpeckers, squirrels and even muntjac deer.

If this development goes ahead all this will be lost as well as another green area in Stanway which are fast disappearing.

The fruit farm is also going to be developed off Dyers Road in the future - yet more trees will disappear - and with all the other building taking place Stanway will soon become one vast housing estate.

I would also like to comment on the design statement which says that the woodland is to be ‘retained in full.’

Someone here is not telling the truth. How can the woodland be retained in full if over 40 trees are going to be destroyed?

The plans show that 19 trees are to be retained out of a total of over 60. Is this the builders trying to pull the wool over our eyes or the planners?

I dread to think what the noise and disruption will be like once the chainsaws start.

Annette Oakley
Grieves Court, Stanway