Residents’ fury over ‘destruction and devastation’ of Southwater woodland

Residents in Southwater are furious over the felling of a number of trees at a property in the village.
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They fear that the destruction of woodland at The Copse in Old Worthing Road has destroyed a number of wildlife habitats.

One angry resident hit out at ‘the total destruction and devastation’ of the woodland. He said the area was home to deer, badgers, rabbits, squirrels and bats.

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Another angry resident said: “No residents were informed or attempt made to relocate wildlife.”

Felled woodland at The Copse, Old Worthing Road, SouthwaterFelled woodland at The Copse, Old Worthing Road, Southwater
Felled woodland at The Copse, Old Worthing Road, Southwater

She said: “We appreciate that space needs to be found for housing, goodness knows enough has already been taken in the area, but we do need to protect our wildlife species In these times of local and global environmental destruction.”

Local councillors Billy Greening and Claire Vickers say the land used to site a ‘fantastic house but has been in a sorry state for rmany years’.

They said they had seen the damage caused by the tree felling and added: ”The site has been considered on a number of occasions not to be suitable for housing.

“Wildlife/trees also offer so many benefits to us and this removal will have a negative impact even if they’re not immediately obvious to us day to day.”

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