What’s going on in Livox Wood?

STOP PRESS! There are issues with this scheme and NRW have agreed to halt work and reappraise the project in the New Year

In the past few days, visitors to Livox Wood (north of Troypark Wood in the northern part of the Penallt parish) have spotted paths being dug up, a great deal of deer fencing going up and a proliferation of notices posted by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), one of which is shown.

NRW explains:

“The deer are seriously damaging the ground flora of the woodland - a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - with the deer browsing most of the ancient woodland understorey vegetation.

There are unfortunately limited options for managing the deer on the site and these measures are necessary to help the woodland recover from the deer pressure.

The only feasible way we can create a large fenced off area where deer won’t be able to enter without obstructing the footpaths is by installing the pedestrian gates. Signage will be attached to the gates in time, once the project is complete.

In addition, work will be carried out in due course to reinstate the areas of ground that have been churned up by the machinery on the route up to the top level of the wood.”

The SSSI in Livox Wood extends a good deal beyond the boundaries of the fencing and drops down to meet the Wye to the north, both sides of which have SSSI status for a considerable length. [Map of SSSI areas in Penallt]

There are two fenced areas being installed, one much larger than the other and the map shows their approximate positions.

Yellow circles show where self-closing gates are being installed in order to maintain public footpath access. These paths won’t be obstructed during the construction phase either.