Contractor, Cormac, is under fire for cutting down the wildlife areas in the churchyard at St Andrew's in Tywardreath.
Environmental activist, Brigit Strawbridge, is furious with Cormac for their 'act of vandalism' saying: "Not only have they cut down every last blade of grass and wild flower, but their blades have massacred and mangled every living creature unfortunate enough not to have escaped in time from this wildlife sanctuary…. including, I'm told, fledgling birds, frogs and four hedgehogs."
I obviously can't comment on the circumstances that led to the grass being cut. I do wonder what the specification says and who's responsible for its implementation.
I know from my experiences of running a town council contract that we always liaised directly with the council's contracts manager before embarking on this kind of activity. We would always assess and agree timings before starting work.
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Just scanned for this story and see it's been a trial by Media (esp on D Mail Online) before all the facts are known.
Truely unfortunate and keen to see if there was a communication break down/misunderstanding as no one would do it on purpose and unfair to blame the 'workers' without evidence of purposeful wrong doing.
As for the local activist's susbsequently reporting to Police - that seems a little high handed, but the WWW and social media gives people a platform to pontificate from.
There, but for the grace of God go I.......
I'm sure we've all cut something down at the wrong time.
Cormac have made a statement on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CORMACltd/posts/385507091643279
"We are sincerely sorry that the breakdown in communication lead us to mow the whole area in June rather than in October.
"We will be in contact with Councillor Hughes, the PCC and parish council to review the incident further and make sure the correct lines of communication are put in place.
We also hope the concerned residents will help us to put it right by letting us help with the new friends of group.
"We would like to thank Councillor Hughes for his statement on Nick Waddington's blog which you can read on the link and hope this explains more about the details. "
https://nickwaddington.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/30dayswild-damage-t...
The fault is with the contractor. It is up to all of us to ensure that we know exactly where we should or shouldn't be cutting. When I did LA contracts I insisted on an OS Map with all the areas clearly marked. I also had a section for special areas & specific concerns. You then get them to sign it before you start.
It's easy to walk over an area & see if there is any wildlife before you cut. Most animals will move out of the way if given the time. These problems often occur because no one supervises the workers.