A GROUP of Headley residents are fighting to stop the parish council felling 50 healthy pine trees, which they say will devastate the area and leave a wide open space in the middle of woodland.

Arford Common resident Emily Thorpe-Smith has started an online petition, which now has the names of 260 people, in response to Headley Parish Council’s announcement that the tree felling would take place in September to encourage the regeneration of the undergrowth.

Ms Thorpe-Smith said she had also been dismayed to find that 44 sweet-chestnut trees had been vandalised by having holes drilled into their trunks and poison poured in.

“We have had the Forestry Commission and the rural crimes officer at the scene but so far they haven’t found out who did it,” she said.

“But it is certain that those trees will die and, with the ones being taken down by the council, it will mean nearly 100 trees disappearing from the common.”

Aware they had to get their protest lodged before the end of July because there is no council meeting in August, Ms Thorpe-Smith and other residents attended the June meeting of the parish council and told councillors about the action they were taking.

“We know trees have to be managed but it should be done gradually and, where necessary, not taken down all at once,” she said. “The parish council has a licence to thin the trees but this is not thinning. They will be cutting them at the base so that will cause damage to surrounding ground.”

The pines are in the middle of the wood “not on the edge where they might be affecting any nearby housing”, she said.

“We are talking about 400 square metres of woodland that will be left bare,” she added. “Some of the area has already been sprayed so there is no bracken or brambles or anything growing there.”

The campaigner added that she had hope when the council planned to “only fell 20 trees”.

“But this was not economical so they are going for 50,” she claimed.

She didn’t think the residents who were protesting were being unreasonable.

“We just want the parish council to carry out correct tree management,” she said, adding that she planned, with other residents, to present the petition to the parish council in the hope councillors will listen to their plea and halt the felling.

In reply, Headley Parish Council issued a statement, which read: “A petition has not been presented to the council about Arford Common to date.”

Of the damage to the sweet chestnut trees, a council spokesman said: “We were first notified by residents of the deliberate damage to trees on Arford Common on June 13 at a council meeting. The council has since appointed an arboricultural consultant to assist with its investigation.

“A single hole has been drilled into the base of the affected trees and it is estimated by our expert that the holes were drilled approximately 12 months ago and 30 trees have been affected.

“Only sweet chestnut trees have been targeted and the council has taken samples of the affected trees for chemical analysis.

“The council is also liaising with the Forestry Commission and Hampshire Constabulary’s Country Watch but there are no plans to fell any of these affected trees.”

The statement added: “Headley Parish Council always seeks expert help, and the recommendations included in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust management plan for Arford Common have been followed.

“The proposal to fell Scots pine trees in September is to allow space for other species of tree to grow.”

Headley Parish Council has called in an expert to investigate after discovering trees on Arford Common had been deliberately damaged.

A single hole has been drilled into the base of 10 trees, and Rita Stubbings, chairman of the council’s amenities and recreation committee, said: “It is disappointing to think that someone would wilfully damage and target a species of tree in this way.”

Arford (also known as Beech Hill) Common is woodland of approximately 11 acres and is owned and managed by Headley Parish Council.