Police issue update after demonstration over Sheffield green development

Officers were called after workers were seen cutting down trees at the ‘community garden’ on Cobden View Road in Crookes at the end of March.

Campaigners claimed the developer had committed a wildlife crime by destroying trees in which birds were nesting.

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Police say an investigation found no ‘prima facie’ evidence that birds had been nesting there but should work resume it would be helpful to have an ecologist present to determine whether or not nesting birds are present.

In a report shared by Councillor Anne Murphy, Sergeant Louise Kent states: “Although a number of people have suggested that there may have been nesting birds on the site, no persons have since been able to provide prima facie evidence of nesting birds on that site prior to the date or on the date of the initial site clearance and upon officers attendance in response to matters reported.

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“Based on this, at this time there is no evidence to substantiate that any offences have been committed under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 with regard to the clearance of the site.”

Developers have bought the land and it is understood they want to build a block of flats there, though no planning application has been submitted.

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More than 600 people have signed a petition calling for the green space, which they say has been enjoyed by the public for more than 60 years and is regularly tended to by volunteers, to be preserved.