Petition

ARCHIVE - For information only

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-southampton-s-marlhill-copse

There is more detail on the protect Marlhill Copse campaign in this petition link

The following is supplementary comment that 38 degrees asked me to make:

• The trees at Marlhill Copse obstruct the expansion of Southampton airport and the pursuit of profit. The City Council supports the increase in passenger numbers from 2 million (39,300 air transport movements) to 4 million (53,100 movements) each year by 2027 and has been bullied into refusing to protect these trees, despite them being in a conservation area.

• The Government’s consultation on the future of UK aviation has shown that aviation’s share of total greenhouse gas emissions could go from the current 7% to 25% by 2050. A report commissioned for the Office of National Statistics calculates that the value of air quality regulation, for all pollutants, provided by urban woodland in the UK was over £ 205 million in 2015. Government advises planners to use “green infrastructure, in particular trees, to absorb dust and other pollutants In Southampton, the area nearest the airport has significantly higher asthma prevalence than the city’s average (2017).

• Southampton City Council appears in thrall to polluting industry and needs to be called to account. Its failure to protect trees flies in the face of a Green City Charter and the declaration of a Climate Emergency.

• “The government is supporting ... airspace modernisation, which has the potential to deliver noise reduction through steeper departure angles” [Aviation 2050]. Southampton airport wants to fly shallower departure angles over Marlhill Copse to allow the use of heavier aircraft.

This journey started for me when I walked through Marlhill Copse, on my way to buy materials to mend a necklace, and was horrified by the felling markings on huge 150 year old Monterey Pines as well as lots of other trees. In trying to find out what was going on I have encountered secrecy and obfuscation by the local council and have even needed to visit the Council's paper archives to find relevant documents. The unquestioning approach of the council to the airport's assertions has shocked me. Southampton has been by home for over 40 years and I would have found it unthinkable a few months ago to have had doubts about the propriety of 'My City'. Despite repeated requests, my mind has not yet been put at rest.

On the positive side I have encountered friendship and support from Extinction Rebellion - who even diverted their cycle-ride to the London actions via Marlhill Copse (to think I had not even heard of them when I went for my walk!), Friends of the Earth and many others. I have had to convert from a passive skulker to an active environmentalist, but still crave a good lie down and a less depleted pension fund.

The support from 38 degrees has been fantastic and the growth in the petition a great reinforcement as well as motivator. I very much hope that the petition will force the City Council to thoroughly review the transparency of its decision-making on planning matters related to trees and the environment as well as acting as a platform for making Southampton a 'Tree Preservation Zone' [I have prepared a draft cross-party initiative!]. It would be great if other Council's in the UK could look at Southampton as a beacon of good practice in caring for its environmental assets and their use in combating climate change.