HS2 treehouse protesters in standoff with police and eviction teams over ‘destruction of ancient wood’

‘There are now four of us, 60ft up in the air, with no way of getting down,’ says one activist after police are accused of removing access lines

Protesters camped in woodland in a bid to block construction of the HS2 rail project were in a standoff with police and eviction teams on Friday following attempts to remove several treehouses using cherry pickers and saws.

Demonstrators said eviction officers had torn away tarpaulin covers used to shield them from heavy wind and rain as well as removing an access line used to climb down from the tree.

Overnight several more protesters joined the tree-top demonstration despite action on Thursday to remove the camp, which resulted in six arrests.

Around a dozen environmental activists were said to be still camped in Jones Hill Wood in Buckinghamshire on Friday afternoon despite Storm Alex bringing lashing wind and rain.

HS2 officials with chainsaws and Thames Valley Police had on Thursday begun the process of removing the makeshift camp.

By Friday, some of the treehouses had been removed but more remained and cherry pickers were attempting to remove the structures.

Steve Masters, a Green Party councillor for West Berkshire Council who has been protesting at the site for three months, accused eviction officers of dangerous tactics including threatening to cut a rope between two tree houses that a protester had been standing on.

“They were very heavy handed,” he told The Independent from his treehouse. “They attempted to dismantle the tree houses with large serrated blades and endangered the protesters. They were wielding them very close to the protesters’ limbs when they were holding onto their treehouse.

“For a time there was a standoff where we had a protester who was on a traverse and the eviction team were going to cut the lines. There was a danger they were going to fall.

“This is how they operate: they intimidate, they bully, they use violence.”

Mr Masters said he hoped the protest at Jones Hill Wood would last into next week but that he was prepared to stay there indefinitely.

“I’d like to stay here forever, although I'd rather we didn’t need to be here at all,” he said. “It’s not a comfortable existence. We are resolute in our aim, we accept that bad weather is part of what we are experiencing, it is nothing compared to the desolation that is going to follow.”

Jones Hill Wood is said to have inspired Roald Dahl, who lived in the nearby town of Great Missenden, to write classics such as Fantastic Mr Fox. Its destruction has been branded “environmental vandalism” by protesters.

The wood is one of 20 stretches of forest along the proposed HS2 line running through Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire facing destruction which environmental activists are attempting to block - five of which are now home to makeshift camps.

Leanne Swateridge, who is also camped in the trees in Jones Hill Wood, said the eviction teams had “ripped open” the tarpaulin covers they were sheltering under and one of the protesters had suffered a cut finger during the confrontation.

She told The Independent: “They came up to our treehouse this morning, pulled out a knife and ripped open the tarps that are sheltering us. We put up a defence but they were coming at us aggressively and were attempting to dismantle the treehouse and pull us out.

“They are now in a tree opposite with a cherry picker trying to pull people out.”

Ross Monaghan, who is also protesting in the woods, said police had removed the line demonstrators used to access the treehouse. “There are now four of us, 60ft up in the air, with no way of getting down,” he said.

The Independent contacted the National Eviction Team for comment.

Thames Valley Police officers have so far made six arrests but a spokesperson said the evictions were not being enforced by the force.

“Our role is to ensure public safety, and facilitate a peaceful protest while at the same time ensuring HS2 Ltd’s legal rights to carry out their work,” the said. 

They added that two people have been charged in relation to the protests - Jack Hartcup, 30, of Cutler Way, Norwich, and Toni Bingham,  32, of Goldsmith Walk, Lincoln - both of whom have been remanded in custody to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court.

An HS2 spokesperson said the “actions of these protestors, many of whom are breaching their bail conditions, is unlawful and violent – they have been throwing paint pots, tins of soups, smoke bombs, bird scaring rockets, urine and faeces at the eviction team, causing a dangerous situation for everyone involved”. 

They added: “HS2 is happening with construction well underway; there are 10,000 people already working on the project and we recently announced a further 22,000 jobs across the country at a time when it needs them most. Only 0.29 square kilometres of ancient woodland is being lost across the entire phase one route, with over 33 square kilometres of new woodland and wildlife habitats being created.”

HS2 contractors started the process of translocation - moving woodland soils from one place to another in the hope it will re-grow - on 1 October. 

In total, 19.45 hectares of ancient woodlands across Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire will be moved, including 0.7 hectares at Jones Hill Wood. 

Luci Ryan, of the Woodland Trust, said: “Just over half a hectare of one wood might not sound much but every inch of soil in an ancient woodland is precious. 

“When you consider ancient woodland is irreplaceable, accounts for just 2.4 per cent of land cover in the UK, and is probably the richest habitat we have, this will be devastating for the myriad of species that rely on it for survival.”