Anger over ‘unnecessary destruction of trees’ along the Bluebell Railway line

Ardingly resident Sam Sandford-Pike is upset after, he said, trees were felled during the bird-nesting season.

He described the area as ‘a scene of utter devastation’ that he discovered while out dog-walking.

However the Bluebell Railway itself maintains that the work undertaken was ‘minor clearing of tree branches.”

The Bluebell Railway was granted planning approval from Mid Sussex District Council in February for the erection of a new track bed across a cattle arch on the disused section of line between Horsted Keynes and Ardingly.

Sam said that, as well as clearing trees, a number of fires had been lit to burn the timber and brash sited along the line.

“Not only have they destroyed a beautiful and untouched area of countryside but they have done so in the middle of the nesting season for all sorts of song birds, small mammals and bats.”