David and Victoria Beckham
Credit: Getty
I wasn t the only one to spend 2020 worrying about newts. Like many, the forced confinement of the past year focused me in on my own patch, made me pay attention to things that had previously passed me by. One of the things I noticed was that the area at the end of my garden that had once been a pond was now a weed-grown swamp, devoid of life. Wildlife ponds are having a moment.
Ed Sheeran has had a two-year battle with irate Suffolk neighbours over a vast pond he built to encourage dragonflies, newts and toads (he was accused of wanting to use it as a swimming pool). And last summer David and Victoria Beckham won planning permission for a wildlife lake of their own, although the council specified that they must provide escape routes for aquatic animals when digging out the silted-in site they were seeking to renovate.
Ancient woodland around Canterbury under threat after being carved up for sale
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Updated: 14:24, 18 January 2021
Ancient woodland is being snapped up by private buyers, leading to accusations its natural ambience is being destroyed by new buildings, barbed wire fences, security lights and gravel roads.
It follows the sale of parts of four of Adishamâs seven woods, near Canterbury, which villagers claim has resulted in them being left under threat of over-development.
Manciple Wood, Aylesham
Now, a Facebook campaign group, Watch Over Adishamâs Woods, has been set up to monitor and report on the activity.
It comes as more and more people are buying up small plots of woodlands of several acres offered for sale across Kent for their own personal wildlife space.
Families buying their own private woodlands amid rewilding trend
Eco-conscious investors buy up personal forests as sales surge by up to fivefold
3 January 2021 • 8:00pm
Sue Manley and her son, Edward, at her woodland near Stanton On The Wolds, Nottinghamshire
Credit: Lorne Campbell /Guzelian
The rewilding trend has led to a rise in wealthy people buying their own private woodlands, as sales rose by up to fivefold since last year.
Growing interest in the outdoors and nature led to a spike in buyers as people searched for a private space to enjoy the outdoors, plant trees and experience nature.
New woodland owners said they had been motivated to take the plunge for the sake of young family members with a budding interest in the natural world, or to preserve Britain’s green spaces from being threatened by development.