A LEADING campaigner against the Derwenthorpe new village scheme hit out today against plans to destroy a key feature of the local landscape - one which has been there for centuries.

Adrian Wilson said he was firmly opposed to moves to rip out ancient hedgerows to make way for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's (JRF) 540-home model settlement on York's eastern outskirts.

City of York Council backed the scheme in January, but had to refer it to the Government for a possible inquiry because it owns most of the land involved.

Mr Wilson, of Grasmere Drive, York, said: "The oldest maps I have seen of the Metcalfe Lane meadows date back to the 1850s and show the hedgerows in the same positions as they are today."

He described them as "an outstanding feature of the local landscape", particularly when they blossomed in Spring.

"It is very disappointing that, despite protests by local residents like myself, the JRF proposes to remove 70 per cent of these internal hedgerows and the remaining hedgerows will be cut down to just a few feet high to avoid interfering with its housing scheme."

He was adamant the damage was unnecessary.

"Most of these hedgerows could have been incorporated into any housing scheme and enhanced through further tree planting," he said. "Most developers would give their right arm for that sort of attractive 'green' landscaping."

Mr Wilson said the landscape value would be lost regardless of any attempt to offset the damage by retaining a few hedgerows on site and planting new ones elsewhere, as he said new plants would take up to 20 years to mature.

Tory Ryedale parliamentary candidate John Greenway, who has urged Government Planning Minister Keith Hill to call in the JRF proposals, staged a protest at one of the threatened hedgerows, along with campaigners against the scheme.

He said: "There are environmentalists who are concerned about the loss of ancient hedgerow and amenities of that area. It is understandable that people are upset at the fact that all of that will be ripped out to put houses in. It is just another of the reasons why we think there should be a public inquiry."

Nigel Ingram, JRF director of development, said: "Our proposals for this site are a matter of public record.

"Our application now rests with the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber and the Secretary of State.

"We are proposing measures that retain a significant element of the existing physical fabric of the site.

"The main losses would be the patchwork of small fields and their boundary hedgerows within the interior of the site.

"This loss will be offset, in part, by extensive new tree and woodland planting, as well as other positive ecological impacts created by the development."

Updated: 10:42 Tuesday, April 19, 2005