A PETITION urging the Welsh Assembly to reverse the decision to close popular beauty spot Cwmcarn Forest Drive indefinitely due to a tree disease has now reached 2,994 signatures.

Coleg Gwent lecturer Robert Southall, who started the campaign, claimed that other woodland areas infected by larch disease have not closed and that the situation in Cwmcarn is “unnecessary and unfair.”

A Senedd committee looked at the petition this morning and agreed to put back further consideration until July 30 while Natural Resources Wales (NRW) consults with local action groups.

Petitioner Mr Southhall said: “I am concerned that NRW has been reluctant to engage on this, in spite of their reassurances to the contrary.”

Forest Drive, a seven-mile road through Cwmcarn forest, closed in November last year to allow felling teams to safely cut down and remove more than 150,000 affected trees from over 162 hectares (400 acres) of infected forestry.

The rest of the attraction including a visitor centre, play areas, footpaths and mountain bike trails, will remain open all year round.

In a letter from Natural Resources minister Carl Sergeant to the committee last month, he said NRW had offered no guarantees the road would ever reopen as damage from cutting down the trees could make it too expensive.

William Powell AM, chairing this morning’s meeting, said: “We last considered this on June 2 and agreed to await comments from the petitioner on the minister’s response. We have now got that response from Mr Southall and as you can see he is keen for us to maintain this petition in a live state for a short additional period because he seems to have limited confidence in some of the undertakings NRW are making.”

The petition reads: “We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to reverse the decision of Natural Resources Wales to close the Cwmcarn Forest Drive indefinitely.”

It continues that there seem to be inconsistencies in the approach and claims: “There are ample harvest roads which can be used to facilitate removal of the trees. What needs to be removed via the drive could done during its annual winter closure; however NRW say that removing the trees will not be completed until 2018 and after this the drive may not reopen due to funding issues.

“Other forest parks are only facing minimal disruption to their facilities as a result of tree removal. To single out users of the drive is unfair and unnecessary when other users will face only temporary disruption.

“We should save the drive for its users, many of whom are elderly, disabled and from our ethnic minority and immigrant communities. This deprives those people who are our most deprived of their main facility for health and well being.”