10:57am Saturday 20th December 2008
By Aaron Hendy
THE stand-off between road protesters and Dorset County Council could turn violent, it was feared today.
The council has gained a possession order for a strip of ancient woodland it is clearing for Weymouth’s relief road and a spokesman said it will enforce it against any trespassers.
The Green Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Dorset, Brian Heatley, said he feared this could affect what has been a peaceful stand-off at Two Mile Coppice so far.
He said: “I hope the result of the hearing is not that this descends into violence. It’s all been good natured so far and I hope it will remain that way.
“This remains a civil dispute between two groups but I’m concerned this is going to turn very ugly and people are going to get hurt.”
The protesters have camped in an oak tree that remains as the stand-off point as it sits inside the land being cleared.
They are also camped beneath its branches in land owned by the Woodland Trust, using ropes to access the tree without needing to walk across the fenced-off ground.
A protester, known as Dave, said: “We are told it is an offence to be in the oak tree, but where we go up and down is outside the council’s land.
“We will be here as long as it takes and if they are expecting us to leave over Christmas they are wrong. I have been in a situation like this where professionals have been sent in to remove people from trees on Christmas Day.”
The Woodland Trust has also asked the group to leave. Spokesman Steve Marsh said: “We asked them to move on as we don’t allow camping in our woodland.
“If they don’t move we would have to look at getting a court order. Hopefully, it won’t come to that and there’s no harm in them being there during the day.
“We are not against the protest – in fact we are for it – but we can’t distinguish between them and others that have been asked to leave our woodland.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of Dorset’s branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) reacted angrily to the Government’s decision to pay £79.2 million towards the road.
Howard Thomas said: “This decision drives a coach and horses through the Government’s claim to sustainable development.”
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