\n People living near Plot 90 off Walworth Road say they were \u201cdeeply upset\u201d to see the hedge removed as part of works linked to the expansion of Walworth Business Park.\n<\/p>\n
\n The project will see new industrial units built on land at the edge of the town and has already faced strong opposition, with concerns over increased traffic, loss of green space and the impact on wildlife habitats.\n<\/p>\n
\n Letishia Tirda, a resident, said the hedge had long provided a haven for wildlife and its removal had caused significant distress.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hedge cutting amid the Plot 90 works (Image: Margaret Hughes)\n<\/p>\n
\n “A hedge that had long provided a habitat for local wildlife was recently removed, reportedly without sufficient consideration for the animals living there,” she said. “As a result, wildlife has been displaced and, distressingly, there have been instances of dead animals left in clear view of the public.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She said the aftermath had been particularly upsetting for children in the area and that locals who questioned the work were told it was carried out urgently due to financial pressures.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There has already been significant opposition to the warehouse development on Plot 90,” Ms Tirda added. “These events have only strengthened the feeling that community voices aren\u2019t being listened to and that environmental and welfare issues are being overlooked.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Fellow resident Margaret Hughes said she understood there was a licence for the work and an ecologist on site, but many people were still uncomfortable with the decision to remove the hedge at this time of year.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It is all part of the works,” she said. “They have a licence to be there and I have talked to a number of people in the village who are upset to see the hedge going. You can hear it going in but when you see it, it becomes all the more awful.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Why do they have to do it now, during bird nesting season? It\u2019s really upsetting to see a long-standing hedge being taken down, especially at this time of year.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She added: “The irony is that money is being spent to remove it, and more will need to be spent to plant new saplings later. Test Valley Council are not using council tax well if this is considered a sound way to spend money.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Andover Town Council<\/a> said it had been made aware of the hedge removal and urged residents to raise concerns directly with Test Valley Borough Council<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n A spokesperson said: \u201cWhile this is sad to see, residents should contact Test Valley Borough Council direct to raise concerns or complain.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n \n A Test Valley Borough Council spokesperson said the hedge removal formed part of highway improvement works rather than the start of any building activity on Plot 90 itself.\n<\/p>\n \n “A licence has been issued by Natural England to Kier Property Developments Ltd allowing the hedge to be removed during the closed season regarding protected species,” they said. “The work is being overseen by Kier\u2019s ecologist to ensure it complies with all relevant regulations. No building work is taking place on Plot 90 as part of these works.”\n<\/p>\n \n The council said the road improvements were necessary to support future connectivity to the business park and added that environmental oversight was a key requirement for all site preparations.\n<\/p>\n \n “We recognise local concerns regarding wildlife and habitat disruption,” the spokesperson continued. “All works are being carried out in accordance with approved licences and environmental safeguards. The council continues to work with developers and local groups to ensure wildlife considerations are taken into account.”\n<\/p>\n \n Kier Property Developments has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People living near Plot 90 off Walworth Road say they were \u201cdeeply upset\u201d to see the hedge removed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-531928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hedge cutting amid the Plot 90 works (Image: Margaret Hughes)\n<\/p>\n