UK: Ancient forest cleared for 2012 Olympics road use

The Weymouth relief road aims to ease traffic around Weymouth and Portland, which are hosting the Olympic sailing. “We have accelerated the relevant paperwork and work to clear the narrow strip of coppice will now restart on Thursday 11 December,” a county council spokeswoman said. A legal bid by The Woodland Trust halted work at Two Mile Coppice a day after clearance work began on Monday. Dorset County Council said the work would now restart on Thursday after “reaching an agreement” with the trust. The Weymouth relief road aims to ease traffic around Weymouth and Portland, which are hosting the Olympic sailing. “We have accelerated the relevant paperwork and work to clear the narrow strip of coppice will now restart on Thursday 11 December,” a county council spokeswoman said. Environmental groups lost a High Court legal bid to stop the road in 2007. Work on the road is due to start in spring 2009, if the Department for Transport (DfT) decides the project is value for money by the end of the year. Trees and other vegetation were being removed from woodland on the western edge of Two Mile Coppice, when Tuesday’s legal challenge halted work. The coppice contains trees dating back 400 years, but the county council said they were only in a 0.4 acre (0.15 hectare) area – less than a tenth of the total woodland. Earlier, the council’s natural environment manager, Phil Sterling, said: “We are losing a small area of ancient woodland, but overall this route offers the most possibilities to ease the effect of the road on local wildlife.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7772693.stm

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