ONE of the owners of land near Romsey that has been cleared has hit back against accusations that it has wrecked a vital habitat for wildlife.

As reported last week, anger has been sparked by the clearance of scrub at Casbrook Common.

Environmentalists say they work has destroyed one of the last two refuges of nightingales in Hampshire and an important habitat for great crested newts.

Local consultant ecologist Andy Lester said: "It looks like a moonscape. It is the worst example of environmental degradation I have seen in the 20 years I have lived in the Romsey area."

But Bill Haslam, who owns the site off Bunny Lane with his wife Tracey Haslam and her sister Nicola Salvidge, through a company called Gilroy Developments, posted a response on the Advertiser website.

He said: "This land is an old landfill site that was never completed and over the last few years had grown over with brambles and although this is private land many people trespass and walk across with their dogs and somehow believe they own it.

"The reality is that these were tidying up works as the site was dangerous in areas it was so overgrown.

"The work was insisted upon by the insurers of the land as there was concern that some of the trespassers might hurt themselves, yes stupid as it is, even trespassers have rights even when they shouldn't be on the land!"

READ MORE: Anger over destruction of nightingale habitat north of Romsey

He went on to say that the work was carried out early in the year to have as 'little impact on the wildlife as possible'. And he said that council officers have visited and found no breaches.

He added: "There only concern was the small ponds that were created from gravel extraction.

Hampshire Chronicle: The cleared land The cleared land

"There has been environmental reports completed by scientific environmentalists in regard to the land being given a protection status and this was not pursued, as the land was judged to be not of strong enough scientific interest and there have been no breeding nightingales seen there for several years."

Mr Haslam said the owners plan to tidy the site and use it for grazing and "possible equine use".

Mr Haslam said he would be 'interested to read' any qualified reports about nightingales and great crested newts on the site and he accused the local environmentalists who raised the concerns of being a 'local mafia of part-time naturalists who object to anything happening on land that they neither own or have rights over'.

He said that both his wife and her sister had faced abuse when pointing out that the land is private property, and that they frequently have to clear away rubbish left by trespassers.

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Conservationists say that the 40-acre site - although a former landfill site - has become an important habitat for wildlife.

Keith Betton, chairman of the Hampshire Ornithological Society, said he had taken a picture of a nightingale on the site last week.

He said: "It is devastating, this is a bird we should be taking great care of."

Hampshire Police said they had visited and spoken with the land owners and given advice, however there is 'no evidence to suggest that any criminal offences have been committed.'

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