Campaigners say job’s not done after missing out on buying ‘little haven’ piece of Sheffield woodland

Friends of Bolehill Wood started as a community group during the Covid lockdown three years ago now after it saw an advert for an auction for the top half of the woods, just around the corner from Graves Park in Woodseats.

Penny Dembo, the chair of the group, and Pauline Zel have been involved from the start.

Ms Zel told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Three years ago now we noticed an advert for an auction for the top half of the woods and the offer started at £10,000. It was during the lockdown and we thought we didn’t want this to be built on because during lockdown it was used tremendously.

“So because during the lockdown there were lots of WhatsApp groups, different groups got in touch with each other and we decided to try fundraising.

“Within two weeks we’d raised just over £60,000.”

Ms Dembo said it was a community effort and at the start they had about 40 people or so on Zoom asking: “What are we going to do about it?”

Word got out, so a committee and a bank account were set up to try and buy the woodland.

Ms Dembo said up until then they all thought it was public woodland – at least she did, she said – but then they discovered the reality when half of it was up for sale.

Ms Zel added they had seen in records that there had been people planning to build on it in the past which is why they were anxious.

At the online auction – after they had to set up a limited company to be able to bid – it started at the above-mentioned £10k price tag and the group eventually lost out by £1,000.

“It was really frustrating”, Ms Dembo said.

She added: “We all thought, who is going to want a piece of woodland for that price?”

Representatives of the group then met the new owner of the land – AMGR Property Management Ltd – to find out about their plans and let them know about their concerns.

“They said they were interested in it but then added they wanted to build a couple of houses on it”, Ms Dembo said.

The group then aimed to increase protection around the woodland so they liaised with the council and learnt that there is a Tree Protection Order (TPO) around the woodland.

However, this could help only so much as people can still apply for planning applications.

What the group decided to do was to apply for a Local Green Space Designation at the council, a way to provide special protection against development for green areas of particular importance to local communities. The report – which can be found on the group’s website – is now part of the council’s draft Local Plan.

The next step was to put records – historical documents and proof of wildlife – into Natural England which can designate ancient woodland. They eventually did and Bolehill Wood is now recognised as such.

There is now lots of protection on the woodland as the group thinks if a planning application comes in, they would be in a good position to fight it.

However, towards the end of last summer, the lower part of the woodland was up for sale.

The owner contacted the group to negotiate a price.

Ms Dembo said: “This went on for quite a long time and then they clearly had other people interested.

“We lost out because we weren’t able to raise enough money.”

She said they didn’t know who had bought it until it came out in the land registry and it was AMGR.

Ms Zel said they had approached AMGR – which had then just bought the lower part – to see if they were interested in selling the top bit.

The group couldn’t make an offer as it was too expensive.

In a turn of events, AMGR approached The Friends of Bolehilll Wood if they wanted to buy the whole of the woodland.

“It (the price) was far more than we could’ve raised”, Ms Dembo said.

Ms Dembo added: “We feel that there are so many protections on the woodland now that it would be very hard for anyone to develop it and the price should reflect that – but it doesn’t.”

This is where the friends group is at the moment.

When asked if they thought the woodland was still in danger of potential developers and developers, Ms Dembo said she hoped not.

However, she added: “Our fear is that planning rules can always change, can’t they?”

The group now wants to engage positively with anyone owning either or both parts of the woodland as “there has been very little management of the woodland” for years and years.

The message is clear: the job is not done and the group is not going anywhere.

They want to make sure people can enjoy the woodland for many years to come.

The LDRS was told by Sheffield City Council that it would continue working with the group to find the best way forward.

Cllr Richard Williams, the chair of the Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee, said: “Sheffield City Council are immensely proud of how green our city is, and do all we can to keep it that way for this and future generations to enjoy as much as those who have come before us.

“In light of this, the council has been speaking with the Friends of Bolehill Woods group over the past couple of years regarding the future of this beloved site.

“We have, and continue to aim to keep this site free of development due to the large number of trees that would be lost. In 2021 of course, the Loxley Planning Inquiry ruled in our favour to reject a proposed development at the site due to, among other things, its high biodiversity value.

“The woods are a designated local wildlife site and Natural England has designated the land as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland. As previously discussed with the group, planning policy exists to protect that – two separate Tree Protection orders (TPOs) remain in place for the woodland which offer protection to the trees present there. There are of course no guarantees, but the legislative framework remains generally against such development on these sites.

“We remain open to dialogue with the group on this issue and urge them to keep working with us to find the best way forward for Bolehill Woods.”