Smithy Wood can be traced back to the 11th century. Long-eared and soprano pipistrelle bats fly among its oaks.
Marsh tits, badgers and dingy skipper butterflies make their home in this ancient woodland, on green belt surrounding the famously tree-rich city of Sheffield.
Twenty acres of this unique wood will be bulldozed to build a pleasantly leafy service station by junction 35 of the M1, if the city council approves a move that could undermine the status of ancient woodland across Britain.
Extra Motorway Services has enlisted Forbes-Laird Arboricultural Consultancy (Flac) to help its application. It claims to “secure ‘impossible’ planning permissions, including in ancient woodland and historic landscapes”.
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