Weston residents respond to local wood tree felling

The reasons for the closure is due to Ash Dieback, a fungal disease in trees which is often fatal.

The felling would also prevent further damage to the Worlebury Camp hillfort, a scheduled monument.

One resident has, however, claimed that the justification for the closure has been confusing: "I only found out about these plans when a leaflet dropped through my door from a local campaign group called SaWW (Save Weston Woods) informing me of the decision to sacrifice a part of this beloved woodland to salvage the remains of a hill fort.

"When North Somerset Council was inundated with comments about the scale of the felling, especially during a self-declared climate change emergency, (they) decided to state that the felling was actually to “re-wild” parts of the woodland instead!

"They (then) declared that actually they were doing it for the good of the woods and removing the Ash trees that were diseased."

Save Weston Woods (Image: Weston resident)

However, the council maintains that the tree felling will complete all of the above factors. Councillor Crockford-Hawley, North Somerset Council’s heritage champion, said: “Worlebury Camp Hillfort is one of the most significant Iron Age hillforts in the country.

"Tree roots have caused damage and will continue to destroy the structure if we don’t intervene."