I have followed with interest, and dismay, the article and correspondence on the removal of timber under ‘Logs for Labour’ from Brasenose Woods and Shotover, pictured right.

Those involved in conservation work (I have volunteered conservation work over many years), will be aware of the huge importance of dead wood as a habitat, principally for invertebrates which also form part of the food chain for other species.

I am concerned that organisations such as TOE2 and the Sylva Foundation, who should know better, are behind this scheme. Of course, woodlands need to be managed but this has to be done sensitively, especially with a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). What Oxford City Council is doing, with the backing of the above-mentioned organisations is, in my opinion, institutional vandalism.

The Parks Department seem incapable of managing an SSSI, and treat it like Florence Park, needlessly removing all flora across the width of rides by mowing to within an inch, flailing blackthorns indiscriminately where rare Hairstreaks lay eggs.

Once habitat and species are lost, they are gone for ever. The city council is custodian of Shotover and Brasenose for future generations but seem hell bent on destroying them. Ivan Wright, of Shotover Wildlife, is right to raise the issue.

It was not always so. Many will remember the fine work carried out by the late David Steel, and the (now defunct) Countryside Service who managed these and other sites. The council needs to bring back expertise in the management of these sites.

PETER WILKINSON Thames View Road Rose Hill