Holt Country Park Closed Because of Storm Damage

Swathes of North Norfolk District Council-owned woodland are closed to the public after yesterday's storm (18 January) brought trees and branches down across paths or left them hanging precariously.

Holt Country Park is completely closed, while parts of Bacton Wood and Sadler's Wood, near North Walsham, have been cordoned off.

At Holt Country Park, hundreds of trees - mainly mature Scots and Corsican pines, whose needles had become heavy with water - have come down blocking the majority of the paths through the park. The infrastructure of visitor facilities is undamaged, but broken branches high up in the trees still pose a risk and need to be cleared around paths and play areas, while some trees are leaning dangerously against others and also need to be brought down.

North Norfolk District Council's small team of countryside rangers spent yesterday helping to clear fallen trees from roads around NNDC's woodlands, and will be working over the next few days to make the parks safe for visitors again. It is hoped that all the closed areas will be open again by the middle of next week.

At Bacton Wood, where the Forestry Commission will be leading the clear-up operation, there has also been severe damage but much of the wood is still accessible. Visitors there are asked to park in the main car park and avoid the taped-off areas. The wood at Pretty Corner, near Sheringham, was largely undamaged.

NNDC Site Management Ranger Rob Goodliffe said: "Safety is paramount. There are still dangers: some trees might have debris loose high up which might yet fall, and shattered branches can be sharp. People need to be careful when they're out in the countryside after a storm like the one we had yesterday.

"But this is certainly not a tragedy. The fallen trees are going to be removed from the paths, but otherwise will be left where they fell. Something we learned from the 1987 hurricane is that the wood will rot down and provide habitats for insects, which in turn will attract small mammals and birds, and then birds of prey. It is just part of the life of a woodland."

• For further information, please call Rob Goodliffe on 07881 847423.

ENDS