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The Destruction of Hedgerows and Vegetation in Meersbrook Park

A Warning from Jan Turner of the Gleadless Valley Wildlife Trust

Hello everyone,

I felt I had too sit down and write this note in response to the appalling devastation carried out in Meersbrook park. I live opposite the park on Meersbrook Park road, the park is(was) a lovely diverse green space and well used by the local community. The Friends group have made lots of really good recreational improvements and the walled garden is a credit to all the hard work put in by local people.The vegetation on the site provides (provided) a healthy mix of ground flora and low shrubs, very important middle storey vegetation and mature trees.It is a park providing a good balance of environments for people and wildlife.

Myself and neighbours were horrified on Monday morning when a team of private contractors hired by our council arrived and, by mid morning, had 'grubbed' up the two parallel privet hedges lining the entrance to the park.During the following two days most of the middle height, well established vegetation surrounding the bowling green, was gone.

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. Spiders 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. The Sheffield Biodiversity Action Plan sets out to specifically protect Sparrows and their nesting/roosting sites. Quoting the the Council's own action plan 'Sparrows have declined by 46% over the last 25 years'. The document then proceeds to list objectives to protect this red List species. Is this plan worth the paper it is written on?

At this time of year the park attracts large flocks of winter Thrushes. They can be seen foraging on the 'ski slope' 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!

I made urgent calls to the Parks officers to be informed, as you will probably guess, that these works are part of maintenance cost saving programme that is going to be rolled out in all Sheffield parks. I was told that an ecological survey had been done. I spoke to the ecology officers who said that the plan was to carry out some monitoring before work started. This has not happened. There was no local consultation that I am aware of.

We all know that economies have to be made but once these valuable sites are lost they will

take years to replace.

Surely it is right that local people should be consulted before such drastic measures are taken.

They might even have good ideas to find other ways of economising.

It is too late for Meersbrook but, hopefully, you may stand a chance of protecting your local parks.

Jan Turner