THE chairman and the parish clerk of North Hinksey Parish Council have fallen victim to the fallacy of the “silent majority” (Tree work crucial, Oxford Mail, February 18).

If support for your case is a bit thin, it is comforting to imply that this group supports you. However, they are usually silent for good reasons: they may have no view, not care about the issue, or simply not know about it. Personal observation suggests that no more than around one in 10 parishioners either know what is in the Louie Memorial Fields, or have ever visited the 50-year old fen, or the copse, in which the trees and other plants have been cut.

It is therefore surprising to find that tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on the area, particularly when experts who live in the parish, and those who walk in the copse regularly, would have been willing to provide their services free for most of the work. Their attempts to seek a dialogue with the parish council about its management have regularly been rebuffed; indeed, the chairman and the parish clerk appear to resent local residents’ concerns and desires to be involved.

The copse is a rare and rather chaotic, untidy and wild place, much loved by the few who know it, and by a variety of wild animals and birds, who took advantage of the ground cover and nesting sites that have now been removed. Fallen trees may look untidy, but are valuable to a whole range of wildlife. Small children love the copse because it is a bit spooky, while still being basically safe.

A variety of saplings, bushes, and some more mature trees have in fact been cut down. Their roots played a vital role in preventing soil erosion on some of the steep slopes.More erosion must now be expected, together with an increased risk of flooding from the stream that passes through the area.

The parish councillors’ claimed interest in wild flowers is at variance with their action last year, when they refused a request to leave a wide strip of the open field next to the copse unmown until late summer.

This would have provided wild flowers for butterflies and then seeds for birds, and general cover and food for other wild life. I hope that this opportunity will not be neglected this year.

Andrew Pritchard, Laburnum Road, North Hinksey, Oxford