A woman cried when she discovered a hedgerow had been hacked down to make way for a sewage main as part of a housing development.
The woman, who lives in Hassocks, was out walking when she noticed the hedge, which she said often has nesting birds, had been slashed away.
The Argus can reveal the hedgerow was cut away as part of work to put in a sewage main for the 500-house Ockley Park development in Hassocks.
Taylor Wimpey, the site developer, confirmed it had cut the hedgerow on March 4.
The woman, who does not wish to be named, was walking from Woodsland Road on to the footpath when she saw the results of the heavy pruning.
She said: “I started crying when I first saw it. I have grown up in the village. That hedgerow specifically, if I could point out any hedgerow in Hassocks that I would hear the most birds, I would say there.
“It was a huge shock and I just started crying. It is one thing after another in the village, things keep getting destroyed and removed.
“There is a lot of building work in the area. A very important habitat has been cut down during bird nesting season.
“I feel like we should know what’s going on with the area.”
Bird nesting season is officially from February until August according to Natural England.
Mid Sussex District Council did not receive a request regarding removal of the hedge, although the developer said it was done in accordance with planning consent for the site, which was granted by the council in 2021.
The resident was concerned that the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 had not been followed but the council said this hedge was not covered by the regulation in the first place.
The regulation stops people from removing hedgerows without permission of the local authority.
The council is now investigating.
A spokeswoman said: “No written request was made to/and given by the council regarding the removal of the hedge.
“However, the hedge in question was not covered by the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, and therefore its provisions do not apply in this instance.
“The council were not aware that the hedge was to be removed and visited the site following the receipt of complaints by local residents.”
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The current landowner of the site consented to removal of the vegetation.
A Taylor Wimpey spokeswoman said: “Preserving and enhancing local wildlife is a key consideration when we plan and build new developments. Before we removed vegetation, we instructed an independent ecologist to inspect the area, who confirmed that no nesting birds or any other protected species were present.
“We would like to assure residents that all vegetation removal work has been carried out in accordance with the planning consent for the site, which was granted by Mid Sussex District Council in 2021.”
Plans for Ockley Park in 2018 show that the footpath was planned to become a public bridleway.
The Ockley Park development borders another large development called Clayton Mills.
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