SAVE NEWCASTLE WILDLIFE

Written by Save Newcastle Wildlife 

Newcastle United Football Club has bought the Woolsington Estate. The historic parkland, which lies in the Newcastle Green Belt and the Ouse Burn Catchment wildlife enhancement corridor, is now earmarked for a £190 million Premier League football training ground.

The construction and operation of a huge floodlit training ground here, would see the likely loss of mature and veteran trees and woodland, that supports birds, badgers and bats. It would further damage an increasingly fragmented wildlife corridor, bringing light and noise pollution and recreational disturbance closer to important wildlife habitats. Part of the Woolsington Estate is mapped as ancient woodland, which is a nationally scarce habitat. Newcastle only has small fragments of ancient woodland remaining. Will this woodland be given the protection it is due? Pesticide and chemical fertiliser run-off would also likely cause significant pollution in the Ouse Burn, an ecologically significant tributary of the River Tyne.

Save Newcastle Wildlife led the 'Save Woolsington Woods' campaign over a decade ago, in response to plans to fell mature woodland to build millionaire houses in Woolsington Woods, under the guise of restoring the Grade II-listed Woolsington Hall. The campaign saw hundreds of people marching in opposition to the destructive plans and a petition that attracted more than 10,000 signatures.  

The latest threat from Newcastle United Football Club is a huge cause for concern and has prompted another campaign. Our petition, 'Don't Show Woolsington Woods the Red Card', which has attracted more than 1,000 signatures, calls for the natural environment to be front and centre of any planning decisions on a training ground at Woolsington.

The Woolsington Estate is a haven for wildlife and ancient and veteran trees: the last of its kind in Newcastle. Any development at Woolsington should protect and enhance the ecology of the area.

Please add your voice to our campaign and urge Newcastle City Council and Newcastle United Football Club to protect important woodland, trees and wildlife habitat at Woolsington.

Would you like to support us? All funds will go towards the campaign.

 Follow us on Social Media