I was going to use a stronger term. The tracks – public rights of way – by the observation point in Craig Gwladys country park have been torn up by heavy equipment used to clear-fell and take away pine trees. I am told – and this has yet to be confirmed with council officers – that the clearing was ordered by Neath Port Talbot council, whose land it is, so that the trees can be replaced with broadleaved native species.

This appears to have been a unilateral decision by the council, without consultation with the local member* or the community council. It has not come before the Planning and Development Committee. Friends of Craig Gwladys were informed by an officer who attended their last meeting, but after the work had started. I understand that the contract, awarded to Tilhill Harvesting, originally stipulated that the timber had to be cleared, the paths restored and replanting to have begun by 1st March. It seems, from information supplied by a member of the Friends, that the contract has been varied, extending this date to 1stApril. Certainly, there is no way that the scene can be enjoyed by walkers at present, and timber remains stacked on site (incidentally, blocking another path).

If there had been consultation, officers would have been told that to turn over this woodland from conifers to broadleaved should have taken a generation. It is not something which could be achieved in a month or two without massive disruption and probable long-term damage. I am advised by a recently-retired forester that the choice of replacement species is important too; pines drive down the pH ratio, so that pioneer species such as alder, birch and hazel need to be put in first before natural regeneration produces oaks and other iconic trees.

I am also advised that the sale of timber is unlikely to pay for more than 20% of the work, if that. Unless the council has obtained grants for it, this is going to set the restricted budget back over £8,000.

More when I have calmed down and we (LibDem group leader Cllr Keith Davies and myself) have got some answers from the council.

 *The felling appears to be across parts of Aberdulais ward as well as Cadoxton. If Cllr Jones was informed, she certainly has not let on to me, or mentioned it in the last community council meeting.

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