Eco-warriors attack golf club

Eco-warriors have torn up four greens at Berkhamsted Golf Club in Hertfordshire because they are angry over the venue’s tree felling policy.

The vandals dug at least 30 large holes on the four greens last month, and left a note in one of them stating ‘stop cutting down trees’.

The website hemeltoday.co.uk was then sent an anonymous email which detailed that the club had been ‘felling trees left, right and centre’ without consulting the public.

It added: ‘We have rights under common law about what happens on this land’ and detailed that mature oak trees have been felled and burned by the club because their leaves blew onto the fairway, and that heather and gorse has been destroyed nearby.

‘The golf club are trying to keep it quiet as they do not want the bad publicity, but we feel it should be brought to your attention. It’s time they were brought to task and realise that it is our common as much as theirs,’ stated the email.

However, while the club is located on land called Berkhamsted Common that used to be open for everyone, today it is private land owned by trustees of the golf club.

General manager Steve Derbyshire said: “Berkhamsted Common is owned by Berkhamsted Golf Club Trustees Limited. Why would we consult them?

“I do not want to respond to people’s anger. What we do not want to do is have an argument in the public domain. If people have concerns, they should contact the golf club.”

One anonymous local criticised the actions of the vandals.

“Let’s be clear, it is private land,” he said. “People are allowed to pass through the golf course at good grace. Without maintenance from the green staff there wouldn’t be foot paths for pedestrians to enjoy the area. The green staff aren’t mindlessly hacking down trees, they are doing it in order to encourage growth of heather, gorse and trees elsewhere.

“The only mindless destruction that has occurred was at the hand of one or a few tree-hugging hypocrites. It is utterly ludicrous that a group of self-righteous individuals deem it appropriate to take matters that do not concern them into their own hands.”