HS2 has “failed” Buckinghamshire residents after saplings died in an ancient wood that inspired children’s author Roald Dahl, a councillor has said.

Towns and villages near Jones’ Hill Wood have been let down, Jane MacBean told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

She said: “We were given guarantees and HS2 has failed the local community. We will not let this go until the contractors address this properly.”

The Conservative Councillor for Chiltern Ridges claimed “thousands” of saplings had died in Jones’ Hill Wood after being planted to replace trees that were felled to make way for the HS2 railway line.

HS2 Ltd has defended the sapling deaths at the 1.8-hectare woodland between Great Missenden and Wendover.

READ MORE: Timeline of the 'controversial' HS2 rail project

A spokesperson told the LDRS: “As is normal for forestry projects we always planned for a certain amount of replanting over time as the woodlands establish themselves.”

More than a third of the woodland has been lost at Jones’ Hill Wood since felling began in 2021, while swathes of ancient woodland soils were also translocated.

However, 4.1 hectares (10 acres) of new woodland is set to be created there as part of a ‘Green Corridor’, which will run alongside the new railway line, HS2 has said.

Bucks Free Press: Saplings planted to replace older trees have died

Roald Dahl, who lived in nearby Great Missenden, is said to have been inspired to write Fantastic Mr Fox during his walks through Jones’ Hill Wood.

HS2’s destruction and replanting of sections of the wood is part of Phase One of the high-speed railway line linking London, Birmingham and the North of England.

However, Cllr MacBean claims that HS2’s contractors planted new saplings at the wrong time of year.

READ MORE: Campaigners react after losing fight over HS2 work in Jones Hill Wood, near Wendover

She said: “They didn’t manage it properly. We’re talking about thousands and thousands of trees to be planted.

“They did it at the wrong time – in summer. Everyone knows that the prime time for planting is between October and December. Thousands of them died.”

The councillor also claimed that local communities would not feel the benefit of HS2, Europe’s biggest infrastructure project.

She said: “The whole situation is dreadful. It is the biggest environmental damage project in Europe.

“One of the primary concerns from residents has been that we bear the pain of the project, but we don’t get any real benefit from it.

“The fact that the planting took place at the wrong time of year has added insult to injury.”

HS2 has said it is removing 21 hectares of woodland in Buckinghamshire but has promised to plant “far more”.

A spokesperson said this includes more than 2 million trees across the county, although the exact locations are still being finalised.

Cllr MacBean said: “It is decimating one of the most beautiful valleys in the area.

“We understand that work has to be done but it is going to take more than 30 years for this mitigation to bed in. Nature can only recover to a point.”