The National Trust owns Hatfield Forest, which is due south of Stansted Airport. Hatfield forest covers an area of 424 hectares (1049 acres) and contains over 850 veteran trees putting it in the top ten ancient sites in the UK. The ancient trees also support a wide range of rare and specialised invertebrates, fungi, lichens, bats and birds. Hatfield Forest is a unique site resulting from over 1000 years of continuous woodland grazing and management. The Forest is the most complete example of a small Royal hunting forest and dates from the early medieval period in Europe. Many of the ancient trees are over 600 years old and include pollard hornbeams, field maple, oak, ash and hawthorns. English Nature has designated Hatfield Forest as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR). Forest under attack Yet still this important site is under threat from further developments at Stansted Airport. The forest is not only indirectly affected by noise and light pollution which affects the public’s enjoyment of the site, but also directly by air borne pollution and the possibility of accidents. In 1999 a Korean aircraft crashed into Hatfield Forest damaging 15 acres of the SSSI. The damage was not only to the trees but also to the unploughed earth. If airtraffic increases – the possibility of further accidents will also increase. Will air travel increase? The BAA may have to reassess their projections for the demand in air travel to rise, due to many events including:  Recent events in America – the possibility of a recession in the airline industry is a distinct possibility.  A reduction in the number of night flights due to a court decision under Human Rights legislation. The National Trust has pointed out that the policy of “predict and provide” has much in common with housing and road policies, which have been rejected. In these situations the Government realised that other objectives also have to be considered (including safeguarding environmental resources). Joined up Government Next year the Government’s South East & Eastern Regional Air Studies (SERAS) report is due to be published. The decision whether to expand Stanstead should come after SERAS has been published. Similarly the London – Stansted – Cambridge Sub-Regional Study is currently underway. This is designed to take a long-term view of the options for strategic land-use development and transport. The Trust contests BAA’s assertion (in their response to consultations (Report of Consultation Aug 2001)) that the expansion of Stansted is not concerned with the period covered in the Sub-Regional Study. Conclusion Keith Turner the Essex and Suffolk Area Manager for the National Trust sums the situation: “The airport will continue to damage the ecology of the National Nature Reserve and will also increasingly have deleterious effects on the unique medieval landscape. Further expansion of the airport will also have a large negative impact on visitors to Hatfield Forest. One of the main attractions of the property is the unspoilt countryside where visitors are free to roam at will.  The Trust believes application has huge ramifications not just for Essex, but the Region and the country as a whole. It is taking place in advance of national and regional discussions over the future of the aviation industry, it fails to take full account of the local and national environmental consequences and is based on projections which, in the light of recent developments, are questionable.” Below: Ancient Tree Forum field meeting, Hatfield, 5/11/2001

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