The advert to sell the field for development in 2017 did not result in any sale but about a year later, Nov 2018, it became apparent that a couple were planning to buy the field to build a 7-bedroom bungalow for their family. The arguments raised to and fro but permission was granted in May 2019. Nothing has happened to date however.

The bungalow will be on the far south side of the field, quite close to the boundaries of the houses which front onto Newchurch Road. Access will be from Springhill Lane with a new vehicular entry to the field about 2/3 of the way up the lane on the left. Just where the wren nests.

It is unclear yet what that means for the variety of bird feeders on the trees on the lane, or for the birds which feed on them.

The process of getting planning permission included a number of reports including ecological surveys. These were interesting reading, added to my understanding of the natural history of the lane and were not without controversy. More on these later.