Leafy Lane Wood is owned by Leafy Lane Playing Fields Ltd, a registered charity that was set up in 1996 after it received grants and donations to enable it to buy both the wood and large adjoining field develop the sports ground and build the club house. The two largest grants were £425,000 from Sports England via the Lottery commission and £75,000 from North Wilts District Council.

This venue is the home of Corsham boys’ and girls’ football, some of the Corsham cricket club teams and rugby league have started to be played there. So a tremendous amount of good work is done by this organisation for the benefit of sports men and women of all ages.

The wood contains mainly broad leaf mature trees and woodland plants and the habitat supports a lot of wildlife. It dates back to the early part of the 19th century. The trustees who were responsible for the purchasing the wood put in paths and signs inviting the local community to enjoy walking in the wood and many people have done so up until the present time.

They have now decided to sell the wood at auction on Thursday, September 17. We hope that a new owner will still allow us to have access but there is no guarantee of this. It has been a wonderful community asset that could be lost to us. The sad thing about this situation is that if the trustees had met and consulted the local community we could have helped to manage the wood for them and offered considerable financial help so the future of this special place could have been secured for future generations.

ROBERT DAVIES Corsham