Maidstone Greens have reacted angrily at the destruction of hundreds of healthy trees in the woodland wetland area alongside the River Medway. The wetland area between the town centre and Allington lock was home to water rails, woodpeckers, owls and kingfishers. Reports of a few ash trees with chalara or ash die back disease had been made.
The Greens have formally complained to Maidstone Borough Council as they believe that the appropriate permission to fell the trees may not have been given.
Stuart Jeffery, Maidstone Green Party: “The owners have devastated a beautiful and important area of Maidstone. They have destroyed hundreds of healthy trees in a wetland area where rare birds were nesting. The owners of the land clearly have no interest in biodiversity and Nature.
“The riverside walk was enjoyed by hundreds of people each day and brings them into one of the most beautiful parts of Maidstone and to a place where they were able to experience Nature at her finest.
“This woodland also helps prevent flooding by acting as a natural soak and flood plain during high rainfall.
“The world is entering the an age of ecological collapse and it is actions such as this that are speeding the extinction along. It must be stopped.”
