Hedgerow removal is thorny issue

Ecologists have raised concerns related to the loss of a 19m (62ft) section of native hedgerow in Telford that a water company wants to remove to create a temporary access.

There is already a gate near the site where Severn Trent Water wants to get into the Rodway Water Treatment Works in Cherrington, near Newport, but it is used by a local farmer to move livestock, council planners have been told.

“We object at this stage, as the biodiversity net gain information is not sufficient,” an ecologist has told planning colleagues at Telford & Wrekin Council.

The ecologist says creating the access off Crudgington Moors Road would also affect a grass verge which ‘has not been accounted for’ in the proposal. The applicant has accounted for the loss of the hedge and the ecologists welcome its eventual reinstatement.

A temporary access is needed, say agents for Severn Trent Water, because construction vehicles need to access a temporary works compound.

“The compound is necessary to support essential upgrade works associated with Rodway Water Treatment Works,” says agent Fisher German LLP.

“The access point is required to bring in articulated low loaders for deliveries, which will carry materials and large items of plant and construction equipment to the construction site until December 2028.”

The removal of the hedge would need two weeks of roadworks to complete, planners at Telford & Wrekin Council have been told.

The water company has started to implement an asset management plan of capital expenditure.

Planning agents say the investment in projects in the region “will be substantial and directly addresses improvements needed in response to a number of key challenges including population growth and the importance of protecting the environment”.

They add: “There will be a particular focus during this period on building the resilience of the water supply and reducing leakage and pollution incidents.”

The agents say once the access bellmouth is not required it will be “fully removed and the site reinstated to its original condition”.

They add that it would mean reinstating the removed hedgerow to maintain the existing landscape character and biodiversity.

Planning agents say that the loss of biodiversity will be “compensated for off-site”.

The Telford & Wrekin Council ecologist has told planning colleagues that the proposals would entail the loss of 19m of native hedgerow in good condition.

“The entrance will be reinstated back to the previous state and hedgerow replanted which is welcomed.

“Ideally the cleared vegetation would be retained to form habitat piles within the wider site – or added to retained hedgerow – or a ‘dead hedge’ as part of reinstatement planting.”

The ecologist adds that the loss of the hedgerow has been accurately accounted for.

“But does not include the grass verge – this needs to be added in to the baseline figures.”

Tibberton and Cherrington Parish Council, which met on Monday (September 22), chose not to comment on the application which is now under consideration by planners following the end of a public consultation period.