Late in the day but the council has put the ecologist’s advice for the recent work on the north bank of the Royal Military Canal in the public domain.
The letter admits that the site being cleared already supported a low population of grass snake. What happened to them when the work was being carried out?
It says that the work will be preceded by a check for nesting birds. Why wasn’t this a properly documented survey? Our district councillors are already following up on this.
There is no mention of cutting down live trees but officers on site confirmed that live trees were removed. We will follow up on this too.
The letter refers to laying turf but this conflicts with the information our councillors were given by officers on site on Tuesday that the cleared areas would be seeded with grass to to see what wild plants would grow there.
The live trees that were cut down might not have had any great ecological value but local people had a real connection with them as they do with the Princes Parade site. We believe that the actions of the public on Monday saved at least one tree and certainly left the council in no doubt about the strength of feeling against the work. The belated ecology letter can be read here.
Photo credit: Save Princes Parade
