Public welcome at the coppice
THE facts, nothing but the facts.
I was sorry to hear that J Weeks of Blackfriars was upset with the cancer retreat. (Letters, June 4).
Local woodland is perhaps a misunderstanding.
The site we acquired two years ago has always been private land. In fact, the wood is only part of the land owned by Eden-Rose Coppice Trust which extends along Mayor’s Walk, where we maintain a public footpath and the river frontage, all the way to the lorry park beside Waitrose.
Formerly the grounds of an engineering company called Atkins Fulford, that part of land, now used by people living with cancer, schoolchildren and those with special needs, has always been fenced off according to people living near the site.
The site was contracted out to Bryant and May (the match company) by the engineering company, around 50 to 60 years ago, where specialised poplar trees were planted for matchwood. Due to a change in circumstances these trees were never felled and left to fall into disrepair, like the land. At some stage the fence was broken and access gained.
Seven skip loads of rubbish were cleared by Bugg Skip Hire, a box of sharps (needles), a large amount of heroin foils and various drug-related paraphernalia was carefully removed by a specialist company (who wish to remain anonymous, but thank-you anyway) and this was just to make the site safe for volunteers to begin the transformation into what it is today. Note: we won the Anglia in Bloom award for conservation last year, not bad for our first year!
The public does visit the site with our blessing and we always welcome visitors. J Weeks, you are very welcome to come down, just ask. As you pointed out, we do at times have to give total privacy by securely locking the site for people when they require it. With one in three people living with cancer most people will understand this.
Our consideration of a surveillance camera in the wheelchair store is an attempt to stop the theft of our, now new, wheelchair, not because theft is wrong but because curtailing a pleasurable visit by someone who has very little time to enjoy life, is a real crime.
Now the site is nearing its completed transformation, we hope to schedule official open days to encourage the use of Eden-Rose Coppice by everyone, but, I still stand by my right to lock the site if someone needs privacy when going through a tough time.
ROB BROOKS
Founder
Eden-Rose Coppice
Sudbury
PS: Not a penny is taken by way of expenses, wages or cost by myself, our volunteers or most of the companies that help Eden-Rose Coppice Trust.
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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