Matt Jackson of BBOWT is ploughing his way through the controversial plans

Residents of north Oxfordshire are among thousands of people who have had an unwelcome and weighty early Christmas present from the Government. The hybrid bill that will enable the HS2 railway line to go ahead through Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire has been put to Parliament.

Alongside it is the Environmental Statement (ES), which is crucial to everyone who will be affected by the proposals. The ES sets out where the Government thinks there will be impacts on the environment, including woodlands, rivers and the wider landscape, and what they propose to do about them. With over 55,000 pages to be digested and responded to by January 24, the ES is required Christmas reading for everyone affected by the route. In Oxfordshire this includes people living north-east of Bicester, in and around the villages of Finmere and Mixbury, and in Twyford, Bucks, farmers and other rural businesses, and anyone keen to ensure that environmental impacts of the project have been properly explored.

A small group of us at BBOWT are ploughing through the documents, and details of the damage HS2 will cause are becoming clearer and more worrying. Changes made earlier in the process resulted in much of the route through the Chilterns put into a tunnel, but there is still concern about the impact within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It was deemed too costly to put a twin-bore tunnel all the way through this beautiful area. Instead the line emerges to carve huge holes in the ancient woodland of Mantles Wood. The chalk spoil from these tunnels has to be dumped somewhere, but it should not be outside the Chilterns area.

We’re increasingly aware that one of the biggest threats to our wildlife comes from isolation, where habitats are broken up and fragmented into smaller areas. Jones’ Hill Wood and Sibley Coppice towards Wendover are fragments of the ancient woodlands that once clothed the higher ground, and provide valuable habitats for wildlife, such as hazel dormice. Both these woods will feel the force of HS2.

Suggestions that ancient woodlands, which have been on a piece of land for more than 400 years, can be moved from one place to another ignores one of the most important messages conservationists have come to learn – that our best sites are best left where they are. Habitats simply can’t be moved to another part of the countryside.

Another key wildlife area affected by HS2 is Bernwood Forest. Formerly a royal hunting forest, Bernwood stretches from the east of Oxford into the vale of Aylesbury. ‘Forest’ relates to the use of the area, rather than woods and although Bernwood has plenty of trees, it’s the bits in between – fields of meadow grasslands and their boundary hedgerows – that are just as important. It looks as though HS2 will miss most of the trees, but the route will hit crucial wildlife sites, including wet grassland rich in wildflowers and butterflies.

Bernwood is also home to amazing communities of bats. Ranging from the relatively common pipistrelle bats to the incredibly rare Bechstein’s bats, there’s something about Bernwood that makes it ideal for them. Local bat groups did an amazing job to make sure that the importance of this area for these rare creatures was known about, but HS2 will have an inevitable impact. The very nature of how bats hunt and move around makes them vulnerable to obstacles in their way. Although the HS2 line takes a relatively thin slice out of Bernwood Forest, the impact could be felt over a far greater area.

It is vitally important to speak up for local wildlife and help to safeguard our natural heritage. BBOWT will submit a detailed analysis of the Environmental Statement next month.

We will also call for more ecologically-sound ways of looking after the habitats and wildlife that will be affected, so that, in the event of the line being built, net gains for nature and biodiversity can be achieved.

To find out more about the HS2 proposals log on to www.bbowt.org.uk