A BERKELEY woman has spoken of her dismay at the removal of an established wildlife habitat.

Geraldine Bramley, of The Brambles, said she was alarmed to discover the whole of a mixed hedge adjacent to a Berrycroft Farm had been removed.

Planning permission for five dwellings on the Berrycroft Farm site in Marybrook Street was granted in July.

But Ms Bramley said removal of the hedge on the Marybrook Street side of the site was unnecessary.

"I understand that a "lack of maintenance" was one of the reasons for the removal and it was part of the planning consent," she said. "But it was neither necessary or conservationally ethical to remove the hedge given it was the habitat and refuge for a wide variety of bird species and other wildlife."

She added that the hedge was many years old and contained a wide variety of trees and shrubs and provided food and shelter for wildlife.

"It also acted as a sound barrier for traffic. At a time when wildlife habitat is becoming severely depleted it should be mandatory to retain and create mixed hedging at every opportunity."

Berkeley Town Council chairman Cllr Ralph Pinnell said the council does have a policy of retaining the greenness of the town.

"We do insist any development within Berkeley is sympathetic to the town and we would usually be quite concerned at the prospect of removing a hedge," said Cllr Pinnell. "But in this case the hedge was grossly overgrown and it was not a good hedge. So when consulted on the development we did say we would like the hedge taken out."

The council also said it would like to see the hedge replaced with new planting further up the bank.

Cllr Pinnell added the council was happy to see development on the site.

"The site had been let go and was in a bit of a mess," he added. "There is a deficit of eight social houses in the town and we were hoping the site would be obtained for this purpose. But we are happy to see the site being redeveloped."

Developers Woodstock Homes, of Bristol, contacted residents bordering the site to see if they wanted the hedge to remain in place before removing part of it.

Administration manager Debora -Grimes said the majority of the homeowners wanted the hedge to remain.

"We needed to prune back the hedge in order to erect a fence," she added. "The hedge will be replanted on the boundary between the properties. But the native species of bare root hawthorn is not available until November, when the hedge will be reinstated."