Residents of a York village fear local wildlife is “doomed” after developments for a new housing scheme begin.
Following approval from City of York Council in December, 140 homes are to be built on an almost 19-acre plot of land in Copmanthorpe, south of Tadcaster Road.
Since the works have started, Copmanthorpe residents have raised concerns over a group of deer who previously inhabited the field.
To protect the site for the Miller Homes development, a fence was recently erected around the area.
Locals believe that this has disrupted the animals habitat and led them to injury, with one woman sharing photos of a deer with half a front leg missing.
Residents are also concerned about the increase of deer sightings in local gardens, suggesting that the animals may be displaced from grazing in their usual spots.
For its part, Miller Homes says it believes the deer injury was due to “a gate being opened and the fence damaged by an unknown third party” – its full statement is below
‘Collateral damage’
YorkMix spoke to one Copmanthorpe resident, Sandra Thomspon, who is doing all she can in order to see the animals protected.
She’s spoken to various wildlife organisations for support, including The British Deer Society and the RSPCA.
Whilst in talks with The British Deer Society, a member of the team claimed that the injury sustained by the deer suggests it was chased out of an area.
Sandra said: “Under normal circumstances they would burrow under the fence and as they’ve been seen in gardens, there must be some openings that they can get in and out of.
“I suspect that somebody was trying to get them out of the development area and as they’re very nervous creatures, they must have bolted through the fence and injured themselves.”
She said that more obvious exit holes in the fence for the deer to freely move in and out of may have prevented the incident.
Sandra was one of the initial objections to the housing development, due to concerns over wildlife.
She now fears that the lack of consideration means the family of deer are “doomed”.
“There’s no provision for them, they just seem to be collateral damage,” Sandra added.
She feels that more communication between Miller Homes and wildlife organisations prior to installing the fence would have been beneficial.
“The Wildlife Trust said that they could help, but they don’t have any jurisdiction over that land.
“So, it seems like a lack of consultation with wildlife bodies that they’ve just directed this fence and assumed that the deer will just disappear conveniently,” Sandra told YorkMix.
More consideration
We spoke to another local resident, who lives just by the development site in Copmanthorpe.
He’s not in favour of the housing development. “It’s just a wet field to start with, and it only ever has been a wet field,” he told YorkMix.
He also fears for the future of the deer, who he’s observed for years during dog walks.
“They’ve been in there for years, and now they’re sitting in a little bit of triangular field left to survive, which isn’t good for them,” he shared.
The resident explained that the injured deer wouldn’t have been likely to survive should the weather have been colder, as the temperatures reduce the presence of flies and maggots.
He along, with Sandra, believes the developers should have considered the local wildlife more in their planning.
“The deer are now only left with three options, to navigate and jump over the railway line to get to the field at the back, to navigate the A64 to get across to the golf course, or walk into the village,” the resident claimed.
‘Extremely distressing’
Conservative Councilor for Copmanthorpe, Chris Steward, said the images of the injured deer were “extremely distressing”.
He also feels that more could have been done to protect the deer.
He told YorkMix: “The deer that’s been seen a number of times in Copmanthorpe with part of its leg missing is likely to relate to some form of damage from the fencing and site measures.”
He hopes that Miller Homes will recognise residential concerns and take the wildlife into consideration as the project moves forward.
“That site being developed has taken away land that the deers would have rightly seen as theirs.
“They’re going to be naturally scared away from it and go to other areas, so hopefully that and the developers having learned a lesson, will mean we don’t see these problems going forward,” he told YorkMix.
Although Cllr Steward is not fully behind the Copmanthorpe development, in his opinion, the site is one of the “least bad options”.
“I would rather we didn’t have development in that particular site, however, the village has to take some of the pain of its share of housing.
“With it going ahead, we need to be as good as we possibly can be on mitigation measures for wildlife and for local residents as well,” he added.
Development details
Developers Miller Homes’ plans will see 140 homes built on the plot of land, as well as seven self-build plots.
As previously reported, the applicant’s agent Vicki Sykes told councillors the development would feature 42 affordable homes.
Four bungalows, walking and cycling links, open space and play areas are also set for the development.
A Miller Homes spokesperson provided this comment in response to residential concerns:
“Miller Homes has commenced work to deliver a scheme for 140 new homes in Copmanthorpe.
“We were made aware of an incident regarding deer entering the site prior to work commencing. A visit to site by local police confirmed no animal welfare concerns were present.
“We believe this access was gained by the deer due to a gate being opened and the fence damaged by an unknown third party. This has now been repaired and as such, we expect this to be an isolated incident.”