Pix of the day. Saturday, Sept 28th

I will admit l am a lover of trees so its sad to hear from Davina Ware that a whole line of mature specimens have been felled down by the River Avon.

She writes: ‘My daughter was travelling home from work today and informed me about the developers cutting a section of trees down on the river by Windsor Bridge. These trees were where a dozen or so cormorants roosted. 

This is sad news to me as they’ve been there for some years. My granddaughter and I used to watch the cormorants fishing in the river. 

It’s the double standards going on. The developers there will have been blowing their trumpet about how “environmentally friendly“ they are and how they’re “enhancing”  the riverside habitats. Yet they’ve done this!’

And in a second post she continued:

 ‘I went to check it for myself and more trees are down. It seems they will be clearing ALL trees between the new Destructor Bridge and Windsor Bridge.

 
I also attach the Google maps image to show the felled mature trees. Such a crying shame for wildlife and created a complete eyesore.’

Davina told me that many others had commented about this on the Reddit website https://www.reddit.com/r/Bath/comments/1fnqoz8/the_tree_that_the_cormorants_nest_in_has_been_cut/?rdt=36300

I did look at this and, in scrolling down, found the following information – supplied by another contributor to the site.

It’s a bit of a lengthy read but worth it! This area is being developed for residential purposes.

“I have found planning document at https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=23%2F03780%2FEFUL#details

I haven’t gone through all 157 attachments, but the one https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/publisher/docs/C75C140D215DACE233024657DE3183CE/Document-C75C140D215DACE233024657DE3183CE.pdf had the following:

Riverside tree removal and SNCI status of habitats adjacent to River Avon

14. In the consultation response from November 2022, the County Ecologist raised concerns regarding the lack of replacement of riverside trees in the northern part of the site, drawing reference also to comments provided by Natural England and the Environment Agency. 15. Under the amended proposals, significant new tree, woodland and scrub planting is proposed within the riverside park, specifically to mitigate for the loss of these features which is unavoidable given remediation requirements at this site. Careful consideration has been afforded to provision to ensure that access to the river wall for the Environment Agency can be provided, whilst ensuring that new planting provides a functional ‘like for like’ replacement of existing planting for the benefit of key groups such as foraging and commuting bats. The design and layout has been amended following further discussions with Natural England, mindful of implications with regard to bats and the SAC located within the wider area. 16. The County Ecologist also refers to the presence of a Cormorant roost within the site and highlights that contrary to the position outlined in the application documents, the site does include land partially within a Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI). 17. With regard to Cormorants, as outlined in Section 5.6 of the Ecology Technical Appendix, breeding bird surveys were undertaken at the site between April and May 2022. These surveys covered both suitable nesting habitat within the site, as well as the riverside habitats. During these surveys, no Cormorants were recorded. Nonetheless, paragraph 5.6.4 of the Technical Appendix acknowledges that there is anecdotal evidence of the use of the woodland by Cormorants. 18. Cormorants are not understood to be a priority species within B&NES and are neither a specially protected (e.g. Schedule 1) nor rare bird species. Indeed, this is a species listed as Green on the latest Birds of Conservation Concern. As such, in light of the absence to indicate breeding (in 2022), there would be no specific requirement to provide mitigation. However, the provision of new mature trees and woodland within the riverside park would provide future opportunities for this species (and indeed other bird species) in the future. 19. As outlined in Section 3.9 of the Technical Appendix and in the Ecology Chapter of the ES, a small proportion of the site falls partially within the boundary of the River Avon (BANES) SNCI. By way of clarification, this pertains to a small area in the very northern part of the site, noting that the southern bank of the river at this location comprises a piled wall.”

I have approached the ward councillors for comment.