Proposal presented to HTC Community Services March 2026/July 2026/August 2026
The original proposal to Halesworth Town Council was for a Heritage Trees web which is in the HTC budget for £2,000. However Heritage Trees are part and parcel of our towns biodiversity and so this is a greater proposal which incorporates Heritage Trees.
This proposal is for a HALESWORTH BIOME, (a region defined by its climate, plants, and animals). Although it is commonly used to describe a large area (for example the Ngoro Ngoro crater in Africa) it can just as well be used to describe our area of Halesworth
Big picture – Why?
It’s widely reported how depleted our wildlife is, climate change, urbanisation, pollution, intensive agriculture has caused a 41% decline in all UK species since the 1970’s with a real risk of some species becoming extinct in the very near future. The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe. Shifting baselines has become a familiar term meaning that each generation thinks that what its experiencing is normal when in fact there has been tremendous change in our wildlife experience over the yea
This is written in a heatwave, the 4th of this year with temperatures increasingly exceeding the average, wild fires in Dunwich and Europe, amber and yellow heat health alerts, and finally the Environment Agency declared it as an official drought
Stressed by climate change, our oaks are dying; I doubt my own oak nuttery wood will survive another 25 years.
It is important, if not essential, that we act to protect what we have of our diverse biodiversity, and what we can to mitigate climate change, building future resiliance. All things are connected, and biodiversity is the life-support system of earth, providing clean air, food, and stable ecosystems. Let us in Halesworth do what we can for this and future generations.
Legislative Drivers
Under 2021 Environment Act public authorities (including town and parish councils) must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity. Government guidelines published May 2023 clarifies that as a public authority town and councils must – consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity. - agree policies and specific objectives based on their consideration. act to deliver their policies and achieve their objectives.
As Halesworth Town Council, we are taking over responsibility for a series of over open spaces with an imminent asset transfer. These, together with East Suffolk Council, Suffolk County Council land and private land, form an important part of our biodiversity patchwork quilt of our town.
Biodiversity Policy and Action Plan
Our basic Biodiversity Policy (Draft) informs the action of a Biodiversity Action Plan. A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) aims to protect, restore, and manage wildlife and natural habitats. Key elements include setting conservation targets, tracking threatened species, and guiding local land use.
Halesworth BIOME – Halesworth BAP
Baseline map and description – Land use The first target of our BAP is a baseline study, a map of what biodiversity exists today. We can usefully incorporate the Opergy Baseline report which has a section on agriculture and green space Halesworth. With the addition of the open spaces in our asset transfer these ‘green’ areas would be added to a more comprehensive map of many layers, and provide a baseline of land use, connecting urban communities. The breadth would be important to define, which may be limited by the parish boundaries, but could also involve neighbouring boundary parishes (Spexhall, Wissett, Chediston, Cookley, Walpole, Wenhaston, Holton), two of which have active Biodiversity Policies and mapping. (Wisset and Wenhaston) Working with multiple existing organisations create a baseline of not only land use, but also specific related projects: Water (River Blyth), Animal (Swifts/Hedgehogs), Flora and fauna; Trees and hedgerows
Longer term aim to work with local landowners to build wildlife halo corridors around Halesworth. Inspired by Professor Peter Hobson’s talk at our first Climate Conference of a halo mainly of trees around Chelmsford, which will act as an air conditioner depending on which way the wind blows into the town. Clean, filter and cooling the urban air
A 5-10 year plan for future protection, for example planting and maintenance, based on Emergency, Preventative and Conservative elements. Including maintenance strategies, insurance, risk, renewal, etc.
Partnerships
This proposal is for an HTC project. Led by Town Councillor Rachel for 2 years along with HTC Staff and Clerks, with succession planning thereafter. However collaboratively working alongside vested existing community organisations:
The aim is to bring these groups together for an initial scoping meeting (in September part of Halesworth ASH climate weekend after an inspiring opening key note talk by Professor Peter Hobson?) and thereafter meet twice a year.
Goole spreadsheet Doc
Including Halesworth ASH trustees & Blyth Valley Church – Pauline / Jim /Dominic
| Simon Parker | simon.m.parker@gmail.com | Halesworth Museum |
| Sal Jenkinson | sal.jenkinson@btinternet.com | Millennium Green |
| Nicky Rowebottom | nicky.rowbottom@btinternet.com | Millennium Green |
| Monica | monicabisig@gmail.com | Halesworth Swifts |
| Lisa Simmonds | klmgsfamily4@gmail.com | Halesworth Tree Warden |
| Wil Havey | harveys@care4free.net | Blyth River Citizen Science |
| Adrian Nind | adrianpnind@gmail.com | Halesworth Gardening Club |
| Geoff Wakeling | geoffwakeling@googlemail.com | East Suffolk District Councillor |
| Annette Dunning | annettedunning@btinternet.com | Suffolk County Councillor |
| bethkeysholloway@yahoo.co.uk | ||
| HTC/Nieghbourhood plan | Cllr.JoyceMoseley@halesworthtowncouncil.gov.uk | |
| HTC/ Clerk | clerk@halesworthtowncouncil.gov.uk | |
| HTC/Admin clerk | ||
| Richard Symes | richard@earlswayfarm.co.uk | Blyth Farmiing Cluster |
| Richard Fox | Richard.Fox@eastsuffolk.gov.uk | |
| Sally Noble | sallynoble66@yahoo.co.uk | East Suffolk Biodiversity |
| Boundary Parishses | ||
| Alan Miller | alanm54@btinternet.com | Wilder Wenhaston |
| Ed Flaxman | edward@designstudio31.co.uk | Wissett Biodiversity |
| Clare Durrant | claredurrant@btinternet.com | Holton Tree Warden |
| Walpole | ||
| Beth Keys Holloway | bethkeysholloway@yahoo.co.uk | Cookley |
| Beth Keys Holloway | bethkeysholloway@yahoo.co.uk | Chediston |
| Spexhall |
Elements
- Web site shop window
- Baseline of Halesworth BAP. Define Scoping area – parishes including? 5-10 year plan. Biodiversity Policy etc.
- Land use eg Opergy report on land use / Open Spaces in Halesworth /
- Water – eg River Blyth / Lakes / Ponds
- Fauna eg swifts / hedgehogs
- Flora eg surveys
- Trees and Hedgerows eg Heritage Trees / New planting / Hedgerows
- Resources – Link to useful internet resources, including conservation, planning, neighbourhood etc.
Time line
March 2026 Proposal to HTC to extend the known Heritage Tree remit to become Halesworth Biome. Accepted but economic and detailed remit required for next meeting. Meet with Red Dune for briefing and quote. £2,000 in budget
May proposal to HTC Community Services (not on agenda so postponed)
July Proposal to HTC Community Services. Accepted to agree Biodiversity Policy and Biodiversity Action Plan. To be presented and agreed by HTC
September: Biodiversity Policy and Action plan to HTC full council
September: budget agreed for BIOME
September: Scoping meeting for all partners of BIOME potentially at Halesworth Climate Workshop weekend.
September: Halesworth Heritage Tree walk / Beccles Heritage Tree walk
October: Photo posts installed on 4 boundary trees
October/November: draft of Halesworth Heritage Trees for Christmas.
Detailed elements Baseline Map of Halesworth BAP
- Opergy Report on Green spaces and their importance
Canopy cover, urban forest’s ability to produce benefits for the community and the environment. Increasing canopy has been identified as one of the most cost efficient and effective strategies for mitigating the urban heat island effect and adapting to climate change. We can measure canopy cover and predict futures with and without planting for the future. Include agriculture, gardens, tree canopy etc. - Open Space Map of Halesworth. Baseline and plan for each open space area.
- Heritage Tree Map
- Blyth River and catchment map
2. Biodiversity Policy and Biodiversity Action Plan
Halesworth Biodiversity Policy / Halesworth Action Plan.
Environment policy – drafted and to complete
Tree policy- drafted to complete
5-10 year plan for open spaces/Trees/hedgerows
3. Land use
Agriculture, open spaces, gardens, tree canopy cover.
Involve Blyth Cluster? Urban, Public space, Woodland, meadow, Orchard, Ponds waterways, hedgerows
4. Water – River Blyth / Ponds / Lakes
River Blyth and tributaries. Current status and reports / Link in with 4 Rivers Project
Ponds and other water catchments. History maps – historic ponds
5. Trees and Hedgerows
See detailed section below
6. Resources
Link to useful internet resources, including conservation, planning, neighbourhood etc.
Resources
Existing records of trees/plants/animals
Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2026
HalesworthNeighbourhood plan
Waveney local plan
Halesworth Heritage trees
Heritage trees are a visible value system (equating Heritage Trees with a Georgian House for example) and an established and successful community outreach project. Originally inspired by Richard Woolnaugh’s 2012-4 Heritage Tree worked up with Halesworth in Bloom, and handed to me just before Richard died. (Don’t forget the view, Rachel). Melbourne Urban Forest is an paradigm example of an Urban tree record, in which you can click on a tree and send it an email, and one comes back. It is an extension of community outreach, involving the people around trees to connect to them.
By establishing this dataset of Heritage Trees we hope to accomplish these aspirations:
- Being aware of the heritage and beauty of a tree. Aligning it with the status of a building to protect. Historic as well as biodiversity utility. Like Boundary Trees, old coppice stools. The stories behind them, Incorporated into Heritage Open days, Heritage Tree Walks. Old maps.
- Registered with East Suffolk Council as part and parcel of her Neighbourhood plan, this will afford a level of protection from potential developments
- Registered with the Suffolk Biodiversity Network, will also acknowledge the importance of these trees in our mosaic of biodiversity.
- A baseline of heritage trees, to be annually inspected annually for their well being
Observe, protect the elders and plant for the future
Age diversity. Like all living things, trees decline in health as they age. Trees that are in poor health are not as effective at providing environmental benefits, such as cooling the city, providing habitat or cleaning the air. So we must plan for succession. Observe, protect the elders and plant for the future. A resilient urban forest features age diversity, with species of varying life spans and growth rates.
Elements:
Web dataset and stories
Heritage Tree Book (2 copies one Library one council)
Heritage Tree Walk/Map
Adopt a tree (social media/poster)
Photo posts of 4 boundary trees
Social media – a tree a week/month
There are 5 main geographical area of the town, which include the main arteries into the town:
– Town Park
– Millennium Green
– Cemetery
– Church
– Norwich Road
– Bramfield Road
– Walpole Road
– Wissett Road
– Holton Road.
H1 – Heritage including boundary and veteran trees (30) individual page
Adopt a tree. Ability of community to email an image or information of an H1 tree to add to the page on the tree eg Swan Lane Oak. eg Sweeney’s memorial willow. In this way we can record the tree over time and over seasons. The community are involved in a tree, relate to it, their name and date beside the record of the tree. Ability of community to email additional information to add to any of the data set.
H2, including trees of merit and or trees which need protecting (70) Typically these may include those recently planted
MEM – Memorial Trees – trees which were planted to commemorate an event or person.
individual page story of each personMemorial trees each have a page (with a story of each event or person)
Adopt a tree
Encourage community to adopt a tree. To take photos 4 seasons, same position, document it’s health and wellbeing.
Photo post of 4 boundary trees
4 photo-posts on boundary trees, inviting anyone to take a photo and send to web. Bar code with where to send, automatic upload possible.
Heritage Tree Resources:
Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
The Government Heritage Trees Bill [HL] private members bill is here
Wenhaston Heritage Tree report (2023) compiled by Alan Miller is here
Memorial Trees – recorded 2023
Planning authorities definition of trees
‘A’ Category Trees (Trees of high quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 40 years):
T3 & T15 Oak are mature native trees; they are traditional landscape elements which contribute to local landscape character and are recorded as ‘A2’ & ‘A3’ categories (high landscape and cultural value).
‘B’ Category Trees (Trees of moderate quality with an estimated remaining life expectancyof at least 20 years): The T14 ash is a large lapsed-coppice which is also of high landscape value, but it has ash die-back and is therefore recorded as ‘B2’ category (moderate landscape value). The native hedgerows and hedgerow trees on the northern, western, and part of the southern boundaries provide screening and enclosure and contribute to landscape character
and are likewise recorded as ‘B2’ category.
‘C’ Category Trees (Trees of low quality with an estimated remaini
Law and protection of trees
Conservation Area/TPO/Heritage Tree list in Neighbourhood plan.
If they are inside Conservation area, no extra protected needed.
If Planning is requested an alert will come up and if in any threat, Council can offer protection at that moment.
Halesworth’s Neighbourhood plan encompasses and acknowledges the Heritage Trees of
Halesworth.
1. MAPs and Resources
a. Map of Halesworth showing open spaces . Ability to click on each open space which leads to a page about each area
b. Map of context of green belt around eg Millennium Green
- Opergy Report on Green spaces and their importance
- Canopy cover, urban forest’s ability to produce benefits for the community and the environment. Increasing canopy has been identified as one of the most cost efficient and effective strategies for mitigating the urban heat island effect and adapting to climate change. We can measure canopy cover and predict futures with and without planting for the future.
c. Existing records of trees/plants/animals
d. Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
c. Neighbourhood plan
d. Waveney local plan
Background and terms of reference
Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
The Government Heritage Trees Bill [HL] private members bill is here
Wenhaston Heritage Tree report (2023) compiled by Alan Miller is here
Memorial Trees – recorded 2023
Defined officially as: a tree in England listed as such by Natural England on grounds of exceptional historic, landscape, cultural or ecological importance. We don’t have any of these in Halesworth but we have our own trees of worth.
Across the UK there are many special trees. They may be outstanding because they are old, provide important habitat, are the biggest of their species, are linked with an important historic event or have some exceptional cultural significance. Often it is obvious why they are so special – their appearance is so out of the ordinary or their heritage value is so long established. However, there are circumstances when we want to make it absolutely clear that a tree has special interest so for our project, we have called them ‘Heritage trees’.
Trees are officially aged as
Ancient, Veteran, Heritage, Champion, Notable, Mature, or young
Resources: Ancient Woodland Inventory
2025: the recent changes to the Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI), particularly the inclusion of woodland down to 0.25 hectares, and the improved recognition of ancient wood pasture and parkland, represent a meaningful step forward in how we value, understand, and protect our wooded heritage. It is a signal that policy is beginning to catch up with ecological reality. By acknowledging smaller ancient sites, the inventory strengthens their protection within planning and land-use decisions and provides a more accurate foundation for nature recovery at a landscape scale.
Ancient woodland is irreplaceable, at any size. These changes remind us that every wood counts — and that the future of our landscapes depends on how well we care for even the smallest remnants of the past.
Around Halesworth are the recognised ancient woods of Blyford Wood, Cheddistone wood, Heavingham Park
Planning authorities definition of trees
‘A’ Category Trees (Trees of high quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 40 years):
T3 & T15 Oak are mature native trees; they are traditional landscape elements which contribute to local landscape character and are recorded as ‘A2’ & ‘A3’ categories (high landscape and cultural value).
‘B’ Category Trees (Trees of moderate quality with an estimated remaining life expectancyof at least 20 years): The T14 ash is a large lapsed-coppice which is also of high landscape value, but it has ash die-back and is therefore recorded as ‘B2’ category (moderate landscape value). The native hedgerows and hedgerow trees on the northern, western, and part of the southern boundaries provide screening and enclosure and contribute to landscape character
and are likewise recorded as ‘B2’ category.
‘C’ Category Trees (Trees of low quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 10 years, or young trees with a stem diameter below 150mm): The remainder of the trees
are recorded as ‘C2’ category (low landscape value) being either small, in poor condition, or of
exotic species of no special arboricultural, landscape or cultural merit.
Law and protection of trees
Conservation Area/TPO/Heritage Tree list in Neighbourhood plan.
If they are inside Conservation area, no extra protected needed.
If Planning is requested an alert will come up and if in any threat, Council can offer protection at that moment.
Halesworth’s Neighbourhood plan encompasses and acknowledges the Heritage Trees of
Halesworth.
Currently on Google MAP image
Current dataset March 2026
Below are the photographs and datafile for Halesworth Heritage Trees. The H2 trees are those which need protection for example are Juvenile, relatively recently been planted. The memorial trees are those planted to commemorate an event or a person.
Some Heritage Trees are ‘protected’, this means that no action can be taken on them with out the Council’s permission. Either they are in the Conservation Area or they have a Tree Preservation Orders on them.
Bramfield Road
Cemetery
Church
Loam Pit lane
Millennium Green
Town Park
Norwich Road
Old Station Road
Patrick Stead
Station Road
Swan Lane
Walpole Road Boundary Oak
Wissett Road Boundary Oak
Holton Road Boundary Oak
Trees in Memory / plaques
Eg Sweeney Willow
Catalpa / Durban Rd, which HIB could pay for.
INSCRIPTION: Catulpa tree
Planted to commemorate
Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee 2022
- Pedunculate Oak / Quercus robur / Town Park to replace one disintegrating
Right of path through park
INSCRIPTION:
Pedunculate Oak
Planted to celebrate the new Millennium
1st January 2000
- Acacia / corner of Broomfield Rd and Durban Close
Coronation Tree
1953/1955?
Dedication:
Acacia
Planted by the Urban District Council
to commemorate the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1955
BENCH PLAQUE
Jen Berry (1939-2022)
Environmental activist and campaigner (arrested 7 times)
who longed for snow, picked up litter and
rocked at The Cut, her Rolling Stone bag around her shoulder.
Google Maps and What3Words
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