CALLS have been made to carry out maintenance on a small wood named in memory of an Earby woman.

Pendle Council is to write to the Woodland Trust urging them to bring forward work at Anne’s Wood, off School Lane.

It was named after keen gardener Anne Duffield, whose husband Alan was a former tree warden in the town.

But the trust have told the council that maintenance work will not be carried out until 2016.

Christopher Binney, principal environmental improvement officer, said: “In 2010 following complaints from residents living adjacent to the woodland, discussions were held with the Woodland Trust to try to secure some maintenance of the woodland.

After initially arguing that it was not Woodland Trust policy to undertake thinning, agreement was reached that trees on the south and east boundaries and along path edges would be thinned.

“They were reviewing their management plan at that time and they gave assurances that the work would be programmed during the five-year plan period. Having contacted them again in January 2014 to chase progress, the Woodland Trust has informed us that the work is programmed for early 2016.

“Despite a request that it be done sooner given the earlier discussions, the Woodland Trust have refused to move. Efforts will continue to persuade the trust to undertake work at the earliest opportunity.”

Colin Riley, Woodland Trust site manager, said: “We first planted trees in Anne’s Wood just over 10 years ago, which means the wood is still very young.

“To ensure the best long-term future for the wood, in not just months or years, but centuries to come, we have to thin the trees very carefully and 2016 is the first appropriate opportunity to intervene.

“We hope people will understand that we want Anne’s Wood to be a place for people to enjoy both now and with their children and grandchildren in years to come, which is why we undertake its maintenance with a great deal of care and thought.”

The site was gifted to the trust by the council in December 1999. The wood, containing 293 native trees and shrubs, was created as part of the trust’s ‘Woods on your doorstep’ project funded partly by the Millennium Commission to create 200 new woods in England and Wales.

Trees include ash, English oak, common alder and wild cherry. An avenue of 25 lime trees lines the path from the entrance to the central glade, where a grove of 25 yews cluster around two seats.