Work at Sheffield park sparks anger
Concerns for local wildlife: Jan Turner, a member of Gleadless Valley Wildlife Trust, at Meersbrook Park, Sheffield. PICTURE: STEVE PARKIN
SHEFFIELD Council has been accused of carrying out ‘appalling devastation’ at a city park – by chopping down hedgerows and bushes which residents say are home to birds and wildlife.
Contractors removed two privet hedgerows from the entrance to the Green Flag national award-winning Meersbrook Park and also felled bushes inside.
Work has also been carried out at Chancet Wood to remove low-lying bushes and greenery.
The council says work carried out at Meersbrook was to ‘improve safety’ because the hedgerow had become overgrown and improve the ‘visual appearance’ of the park entrance.
But Jan Turner, a retired teacher who lives opposite the park entrance on Meerbrook Park Road and is a member of Gleadless Valley Wildlife Trust, called the work ‘appalling devastation’.
She said: “Although privet is probably not the most attractive and currently popular hedging plant it provides a wonderful roosting site and shelter for small birds – wrens, dunnocks and, in particular, sparrows.
“Spider and insects living in the dense hedging provide a rich food source when other sources are unavailable. We had a very healthy colony of sparrows using the hedging and now where will they go?”
Jan added: “Quoting the council’s own action plan, ‘Sparrows have declined by 46 per cent over the last 25 years’.
“At this time of year the park also attracts large flocks of winter thrushes. On the approach of sparrowhawks or any other danger the habit is to take immediate cover in the vegetation surrounding the bowling green. That is now not an option.”
Jan said when she contacted the council, she was told the work was part of a ‘maintenance cost-saving programme that is going to be rolled out in all Sheffield parks’ and that both an ecological survey and public consultation had been carried out.
She added: “I’m not sure about the safety concerns – I live right outside and as far as I’m aware there have been no muggings by people hiding in the bushes.”
Chris Taylor, who lives near Chancet Wood, said: “We are now experiencing similar devastation at Chancet Wood, where low lying bushes and greenery are being cleared away and trees being cut down to ‘stumps’, leaving very little shelter for wildlife and ground nesting birds.”
Opposition Lib Dem councillors have called on the council to stop the work.
Coun Ian Auckland, shadow cabinet member for environment, said: “I doubt removing hedges and shrubs will see serious savings generated for the council. Ruining our parks for such little financial gain doesn’t make sense.”
A Sheffield Council spokesman said work at Meersbrook was carried out ‘to not only improve the area in terms of visual appearance but also to improve safety in the area’ and consultation had been carried out with the Park’s Friends Group and Meerbrook park Bowling Club.
The spokesman said: “We also consulted our Ecology Unit regarding the environmental impact of the removal and officers agreed that any removal was best done before the beginning of March to avoid any impact on the nesting season.
“Our ecology officer also stated that the removal would have no detrimental impact on wildlife as a whole, as this area of the park has adequate green cover.”
The council said there are no plans for similar work in other parks and any future maintenance would be managed in consultation with friends groups.
* Was the council right to cut down the hedgerows? Leave a comment below or email us at letters@thestar.co.uk.
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Comments
There are 10 comments to this article
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Crumbs
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 02:07 PMMeersbrook Park is my local green space and the council are doing a pretty good job of slowly ruining it. The work in question was totally pointless and certainly has not "improved the appearance". The loss of vegetation now leaves the bowling green open on one side, save for a grotty wire fence; I'm sure the bowling club were happier with the privacy the hedgerows afforded. As for cost - current annual maintenance versus the cost of this clearance, tree felling, replanting (and then annual maintenance...) A no-brainer surely!
Reason
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 11:31 AMYet again we get spurious reasons for this bunch of useless idiots at the council doing something that perhaps they shouldn't be doing. So a few birds lose their habitat....do you think that they have even given that a thought? This has absolutely nothing to do with safety it is all about money....no hedgerows, no need for gardeners to cut and trim them.....it is all about costs, come on SCC stop being so patronising and taking us all for idiots, just tell the truth for once, believe me, we will understand even if we don't agree with the measures !!!
Charlie Farleigh
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:40 PMDoes SCC really need an Ecology Unit? What's it costing us per annum, per capita? Does anybody know??
handsworth
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 08:52 PM#1 They probably lived in the same street as Mancunian #2
Wessex spanner monkey
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 06:53 PMNakasaka? Never heard of it! Sorry that should be Nagasaki in post #5
Wessex spanner monkey
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 06:40 PMSome people really do have too much time on their hands - "appalling devastation" is what happened at Hiroshima and Nakasaka. I fail to see how managing the undergrowth in a public park by lopping a few bushes and hedges back can cause anyone any heartache. As usual, a complete over-reaction by a few tree-huggers makes the headlines on a slow news day. It actually makes a pleasant change to hear that SCC do actually maintain the infrastructure of the city occasionally.
serendipity
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 02:43 PMThey should be taking advice from wildlife experts and listening to it before doing work like this. Destroying wildlife habitats for cosmetic reasons is disgraceful and seems to be happening all over the city. Do we really want our green areas to be boringly neat and tidy? They are much more interesting when left to grow wild.
astrologer
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 02:20 PMTypical of Sheffield City Council Spoiling our City yet again, if it works leave it alone; look at the Moor and the Devestation they have caused there and they are planning for yet more buildings to be demolished.....
Los Blancos Galactico Rossoneri Mancunian
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 01:13 PMOh stop fussing over some hedgegrows and bushes! Get a life!
seenitall
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:34 PMI am reminded that , in some quarters, we used to be known as ....."Sheffield ... the City of Philistines".
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