Concerned conservationists protested at the entrance to a construction site where contractors are building 40 affordable homes at Nordon in Salisbury Road, Blandford Forum, after part of an old yew hedge was ripped out on the Thursday before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
The yew, a recognised hedgehog highway in which birds are nesting, backs onto the boundary of rear gardens to properties along Holland Way.
Distraught residents had alerted Denise Montague of the Blandford Hedgehog Group to its destruction, and she met them at the gate when the workmen returned early on Tuesday. They were joined by Dorset councillor Byron Quayle, who promised to investigate the issue.
Mrs Montague said: “It doesn’t make sense to take out a well-established hedge and replace it with fencing or new planting which will take years to grow.”
The construction site manager assured protesters the builders and their clients, Aster Housing, were considerate towards the environment and nesting boxes were to be provided.
Gaps created under a boundary hedge in a town can help to create a network of green space that enables hedgehogs to roam freely.
Residents were told the qualified arboriculturists who had removed the hedge had avoided touching any section in which birds were nesting, but ‘the hedge had to be removed because it was so wide it occupied what was needed for the gardens of the flats being built’.
However, the site manager agreed to call a halt to work until the plans to remove and re-plant had been reconsidered in the light of a suggestion that it simply be reduced in width instead.
“They have already removed too much of the hedge that would have been prime habitat for hedgehogs,” said Mrs Montague. “The clue is in the name – ‘hedge’ hogs.”
She said she a member of the Natural Environment Team had assured her in 2020 the hedge would remain but further detailed plans for the redevelopment of the site showed re-planting with a variety of alternative species.
The site was previously owned and occupied by North Dorset District Council, which approved the outline scheme, including the demolition of the Nordon building. Dorset Council approved the detailed application.

by Nicci Brown