WHAT is happening to Hartlebury Common? After years of being told the work being done there (removing the conifer forest, removing many large oak trees, grazing cattle etc) was to restore it to heathland, all we are left with is a muddy wasteland, rapidly being taken over by bracken, brambles and cow pats!

When the major works were being carried out by contractors driving 4x4s, huge logging machines and large log transporters, we were told that the damaged paths would be restored ‘better than they were before.’ They weren’t and ever since have been constantly made worse by the rangers driving their land rover around, the cows churning up the ground and the farmer who owns the cows using quad bikes to check and round up his cattle, so much so that one of the main tracks from Wilden Top car park turns into a small canal in rainy periods with a ‘pond’ at one end that hardly dries out even in prolonged dry spells.

My husband has taken photos of the ruts and the canal/pond area which highlights how bad this is. Many areas of the common are now getting into this state.

It seems to me that Worcestershire Countryside Service, whose job it is to maintain the common, do not have a coherent strategy for this so-called heathland restoration.

Ragwort was pulled during one of the driest periods of the summer, leaving so many fragments of root behind which will regenerate next year. Nothing effective is being done about the bracken and brambles which are taking over everything. In the last week or so the rangers have been churning up the ground with their Land Rovers in the wettest period we’ve had for some time, in order to strim the brambles right in the middle of the upper common.

Strimming brambles is the worst way to deal with them (according to the RHS) as it only encourages more vigorous growth.

I asked the head of Worcestershire Countryside Service about these issues and she stated ‘actually we haven’t got the finances or resources to deal with these issues effectively.’ However, in the photos, there is a shiny white, brand new Land Rover fully kitted out with expensive winch.

Where has the money for this suddenly appeared from? On the day the photo was taken this had been driven to the middle of the Common, for what purpose – so one ranger could rake together a few brambles and burn them, with the resulting white smoke as they would not burn properly as they were too wet.

What a waste of time and money.

It would appear that the finances are available when it suit.

Perhaps the common should have been left alone, or possibly handed over to a conservation body to deal with the heathland restoration.

Mrs G Edwards Stanklyn Lane Kidderminster