Tree Felling at Beaufort Park – Labour and Green Councillors Must Answer for Planning Oversight and Environmental Negligence
Bracknell Forest Conservatives are calling for immediate accountability following the unauthorized and poorly supervised tree felling at Beaufort Park, where developers Southern Homes have cleared woodland based on the wrong version of the approved forestry management plan.
The work has caused serious environmental concerns and widespread dismay, as trees were felled during the bird nesting season – in direct conflict with biodiversity guidance and without adequate supervision from Bracknell Forest Council. Incredibly, some of the felled land is even owned by Taylor Wimpey, raising further questions about land access and responsibility.
Southern Homes acted in breach of planning conditions, and Bracknell Forest Council failed to oversee the work. Yet rather than addressing this breakdown, the Labour-led council and their Green Party allies – who both voted to build on this land – have chosen silence.
All this while they allocate £250,000 for climate change budgets elsewhere, raising questions about their true environmental priorities.
Cllr Tina McKenzie-Boyle, Borough and Parish Councillor, said:
"I fought this application for four years. The only way Bracknell Forest Council planning officers believed they could win was by including the development in the Local Plan. Residents were promised responsible stewardship and instead got trees felled out of season and planning procedures ignored."
Bracknell Forest Council’s own policies state that failure to follow approved planning conditions can result in enforcement – even prosecution. Yet no such action appears to have been taken.
We are calling on Cllr Guy Gillbe, Labour’s Executive Member for Planning and Transport, to immediately clarify:
- What enforcement action is being taken against Southern Homes for cutting trees using the wrong plan?
- Why were the developers allowed to operate during bird nesting season, in contravention of clear environmental advice?
- Why was there no site supervision from the Council during active works?
- Why are taxpayers funding climate PR while real habitats are destroyed under Labour and Green watch?
The people of Bracknell deserve transparency, competence, and environmental protection – not negligence dressed up as progress.
Labour and the Greens must be held accountable.
