Frustration mounts over increasingly inaccessible Oversley Woods after gates installed
GATES at the entrance to woodland near Alcester have made it off-limits for disabled people, it has been claimed.
Metal gates at the eastern and western ends of Oversley Wood put in by Forestry England are being criticised as a barrier to anyone in a wheelchair or parents with children in large buggies.
Locals are already frustrated after National Highways closed an unofficial car park down a track off Trench Lane at the eastern end of the wood, in November.
The officially recommended access to the 230-acre site is now on foot from Alcester via the Arden Way through Oversley Green to the western end of the wood.
But critics say this includes a one-mile walk uphill from the nearest car park in Alcester and is not do-able for older or frail visitors.
Other options are to walk half a mile from Oversley Green, or to park on the grass verge at the end of the lane near the eastern gate, next to fast-moving traffic.
Richard Slatter, who lives nearby, said: “This is a wood which is being shut off from the public, then they go and put up these gates. That means you have no disabled access.”
He points to Forestry England’s recent online public consultation on the long-term vision for Warwickshire woodlands, including Oversley Wood, which saw more than 200 people commenting that they would like a car park.
Mr Slatter lobbied former Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi, who wrote to Forestry England. But replying in April, Kevin Stannard, west district forest management director for Forestry England, said the car park area mentioned “is not, and never was, intended to be a car park”.
He described it as a turning area for forestry vehicles and farmland.
And although he admitted informal parking at the east end of the wood had been tolerated for many years, he said a rise in the number of visitors was blocking the track and creating more litter and fly-tipping.
Mr Slatter, who’s also chairman of the Oversley Green Residents’ Association, said: “Until November last year there was a bit of a car park but during Covid, Oversley Wood became very popular and as cars increased, congestion increased, so Highways England, which owns the land and Forestry England decided to close the car parking area.
“That’s understandable but their recommended way of getting to the wood is at least half a mile walk from Oversley Green, and if you are looking at a car park as opposed to street parking, it’s a one mile walk from Alcester.
“Suddenly overnight, people couldn’t get into the wood unless they could walk a half a mile.”