Residents’ fury after dozens of trees were felled
Angry residents and community leaders have branded the chopping down of almost 100 trees at a village gateway as “vandalism on a massive scale”.
Hixon villagers fear the mass-felling took place during the bird nesting season – and police were informed about the activity on the land off New Road, where a 200-metre stretch of trees and hedgerow was hacked down.
Several residents visited the site on Saturday. Parish and borough councillor Brendan McKeown said they found six nests among the felled trees and hedgerow.
He added the land was in private ownership and the owner is believed to live outside the village.
“This felling of these decades-old trees and mature hedgerow is nothing short of vandalism on a massive scale,” Councillor McKeown said. “It should not be down to us, as local residents, to prove there were nesting birds.
“The onus is clearly on the contractors to take appropriate measures to comply with established UK and EU directives. But they had a very cavalier attitude to the work they were doing.
“The police should invite them in for questioning so that they might give their account of the works.”
Nigel Baxter of environment group Hixon Green and Clean said it was accepted that landowners had a right to work on their property. But tree and hedgerow felling at that time of year – mid-July – went against the advice of the Countryside and Wildlife Act 1981, especially while birds were nesting.
He added: “This is wanton destruction of mature trees and hedgerows, which will have devastated wildlife habitats. However, what it has also done is brutally exposed the amount of litter that has been dumped there over the years.
“Hixon Green and Clean members have already made a start in clearing the litter, but it will take more sessions to clear it all up. It’s the responsibility of us all to dispose of our litter properly through recycling wherever possible, or if not, in bins. Hedgerows, trees, and fields are not rubbish bins.
“Throughout the lockdown, it has become increasingly obvious just how important the environment and wildlife is to our health and well-being. Sadly, this episode shows some people will continue to have a blatant disregard for the natural world around us. Let us hope this is not what getting back to normal means to most of us.”
