As Chairman of Epping Forest and the Commons Committee at the City of London Corporation, I have the pleasure of hosting a range of visits and events in our portfolio of open spaces throughout the year.
Today, we visited Burnham Beeches, which is a 926-acre biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated west of Farnham Common in the village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire. It is also classified as a Special Area of Conservation and National Nature Reserve.
The largely beech woodland has been regularly pollarded, which has resulted in many trees now several hundred years old. Their age, and the amount of deadwood in and around them, means that the woodland is rich in wildlife. More than sixty of the species of plants and animals here are either rare or under threat nationally.
Since the City of London Corporation acquired the site and registered it as a charity in 1880, the Lord Mayor of the City of London has visited annually to pollard a tree, recognising the importance of the practice which prolongs the life of trees.
We also stopped to talk to a range of volunteers who work in Burnham Beeches and Stoke Common. Katie spoke to us about the work she had been involved in which has created new paths and explained brilliantly the benefits she had enjoyed from volunteering. These included learning new skills, getting outdoors for health and wellbeing, meeting new people and giving something back to a local charity.
Richard also spoke to us about the scientific work he has been doing to monitor lichens. A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. Lichens are important actors in nutrient cycling and act as producers which many higher trophic feeders feed on. But the survey work is starting to show how much pollution is in the area based on the formation of the lichens on trees.
At the conclusion of the visit, I had the pleasure of hosted a lunch at Dorney Wood, which is the weekend retreat currently occupied by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The estate was gifted to the National Trust and leased back to a local Trust with whom we work closely at Burnham Beeches. The original trust deed stated that Dorney Wood should be used either by (i) a Minister of State (ii) the Lord Mayor of London or (iii) the American Ambassador to the UK. Therefore, when the Chancellor is not using the house, the Lord Mayor of London is able to do so. For security reasons, however, we photography is not permitted.
A mix of local political leaders, landowners, staff and volunteers joined us for lunch, including the Leader, Chairman and Cabinet of Buckinghamshire Council, the Chairman of Slough Borough Council and the Chairs of various Parish Councils.
In my ‘State of the Union’ address to guests over lunch, I spoke about the wonderful partnerships which have been strengthened in the past year as we work with local planning authorities on their Local Plans and Transport Strategies. I spoke about the success of the Community Ranger scheme, paid for by local developers through Strategic Monitoring and Mitigation agreements (SAMM). I thanked volunteers for their remarkable contributions, which amounted to 14,706 hours in 2022. But most importantly, I encourage further partnership working across wider landscapes to ensure we do our best to counter the impact of climate change.
A thoroughly useful day to both celebrate the many local achievements on the ground and re-double our efforts to partner on the challenges ahead.
