Hedgehog home and ‘wildlife haven’ destroyed to build private school sports ground

Image: The ‘wildlife corridor’ has been entirely cleared of plants; photographs: Roy Forshaw

Anger from Chiswick’s environmental groups

A private school has ripped out undergrowth on the boundary between its new sports ground and Chertsey Road Allotments, which environmentalists say will take years to recover.

The bramble hedge was several metres wide and at least 400 metres long, and backed onto half of the 147 plots at Chertsey Road Allotments.

Dennis Flaherty, chairman of the Chiswick Horticultural and Allotment Society, described the patch as “a wildlife haven” which “never bothered anybody and stopped footballs coming over to the allotments.”

To the surprise of the society, allotment holders, local wildlife groups and local councillors, the hedge was completely cleared out at the beginning of June by Thomas’s contractors.

Recently, a nest of song thrushes was spotted in this ‘wildlife corridor’, and a hedgehog has been seen on the allotments.

Nine sports pitches are being built for Thomas’s College in Richmond, which is set to open in September 2025.

The college will add to Thomas’s London Day Schools portfolio of four co-educational private preparatory schools in London, with locations in Kensington, Battersea, Clapham and Fulham. Previous students of their Battersea nursery include Princess Charlotte and Prince George.

Tuition fees at Thomas’s College will be over £30,000 a year.

A home for hedgehogs

This year will be WildChiswick and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) second year monitoring hedgehog activity at Chertsey Road as part of a national scheme to produce an estimate of the UK’s hedgehog population.

The hedge was part of a ‘wildlife corridor’ which ran along the back of the allotments, down to the naturally wild area at the bottom of Duke’s Meadows towards the river. This unobstructed pathway hoped to encourage hedgehogs and other wildlife to thrive there.

“The wildlife corridor has now completely gone,” said Dennis, whose allotment backed onto the hedge.

“If there were any hedgehogs in there, they’re dead and buried by now. Any mammals, unless they escaped into the allotment site, are dead and gone.”

Three motion-activated cameras have been set up in Chertsey Road Allotments, and over thirty in Chiswick, as part of the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme.

“The hedgehog activity here is very special, as they are the only ones we know of outside of the Grove Park and the Strand on the Green area”, WildChiswick’s founder Jo Gilbert told The Chiswick Calendar.

(L) Hedgehog caught on camera at Chertsey Road Allotments Credit: London HedgehogWatch/ZSL

The school has now said they intend to replace the plants they have removed, but there is no quick solution that can replace the damage that has been done, Jo told us.

“Ten metres of hedgerow can hold a population of over 60 different species or more in English countryside,” Jo said.

“Not only will the new plants take time to grow, but they will need to be monitored and taken care of if wildlife is to thrive there.”

Important environmental factors were not considered by contractors, Jo said.

“Even if there are plans to replace it, it is not a good time of year to be removing any kind of hedgerow, hedging or overgrowth, because of the nesting period. And really it is not a good idea to replace any hedging or overgrowth until the November to March timeframe”.

The RSPB advises gardeners do not cut hedges between March and September, due to the high possibility that birds may be nesting in shrubs and trees.

Thomas’s College, however, is aiming to finish the sports ground and hedgerow in time for the school’s opening in September.

Habitats protected by law

The Countryside and Wildlife Act 1981, states it is against the law to intentionally damage or destroy birds’ nests and eggs. Additionally, some hedgerows are protected by law and cannot be removed, if they meet certain criteria.

In correspondence with the allotment holders, Thomas’s School said that the contractor and his team were “very careful not to harm or disturb wildlife”, and maintained that work was carried out on “weeds” not an “established hedge”.

There is some discussion as to what constitutes a ‘hedge’, but the definition is established in law.

The school added that they will be planting a hedge: “our intention was to plant an established hedgerow, wild grass and wild flowers in front, which was to benefit animal species.”

However, Dennis of the Allotment Society was amongst those not satisfied by this response.

“You can’t just replace it overnight. You’re looking at years. You destroyed the habitat, but how do we know when that habitat will come back?”

Karen Liebreich of Abundance London also added that the  replacement “should be serious and timely, and not just a token gesture.”

Image from the school’s website which appears alongside its statement on Environmental and Social Governance

School claims commitment to environment 

The plans for Thomas’s College’s new sports ground at Duke’s Meadow include nine pitches suitable for hockey, rugby and football, along with four cricket squares and an athletics track in summer.

In a statement, the school said that with projects like this, they always consider the impact on the community.

“Thomas’s works closely with its neighbours across our school group; the environment and working with community is very important to us”.

The school prospectus claims they teach ‘Environmental and Social Governance’ to pupils, giving them a “strong sense of social responsibility” as “conscientious, caring citizens of the world”.

It reads: “We are committed to educating our pupils about the importance of respect for the environment and we promote sustainable development across the Thomas’s schools.

“We recognise that we have a duty to equip our children with the knowledge and the skills necessary to look after our planet, to manage the world’s resources wisely and to make a positive contribution to improving the areas local to our schools”.

This angered Chiswick’s environmental activists further.

“It is a nice hypocritical thing to say when you can then just go and destroy it all,” said Dennis.

Karen added:

“For Thomas’s school to claim to be instilling respect for the environment while literally destroying this important habitat is the height of hypocrisy.

“The children will inherit a planet that is devoid of a decent future. Probably they will be told cute stories in class about lovable hedgehogs, meanwhile their school has played an important role in eliminating them from one of the remaining areas of west London where they were still clinging on.

“The school has, however, got in touch and we are meeting to discuss how we can try to pluck some positive outcomes from this situation”.

Response from the school

The Chiswick Calendar asked the school for their response to the reaction from local environmentalists and here is what they said:

‘After being approved by Hounslow Council’s planning committee, Thomas’s London Day Schools and Old Meadonians Football Club (OMFC) began renovation and ongoing improvement of the Dukes Meadows site. The planning permission contains a site plan showing pitches running up to the boundary of the site.

‘We are committed to improving the existing grass pitches, installing two new artificial pitches, and constructing a pavilion. The plans for the pavilion have been rated as ‘Excellent’ by BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method).

‘The agreement commits to community use of the site, and Thomas’s will therefore manage and maintain the pitches for both the schools, the OMFC, and wider community benefit.

‘Renovation works to the grass pitches demise has started, and phase 1 of the plan is to improve the current pitches for September 2025 for the use of all groups as above.Within the pitch demise there is an area of overgrown grass and weed, and a section of this has been carefully cut back by a trained arboriculturist in preparation for the pitch renovations.

‘Once the renovations are complete, the school intends to plant native hedgerows and a wild grass and flower mix along the allotment line for both the future enjoyment of the community and to promote the proliferation of wildlife in the area.

‘The arboriculturalist will also preserve large areas of current wild grassland that has been identified as being inhabited by wildlife, and further promote it by installing logs, a bug house, and additional wildflower mix.

‘Any work that has already taken place along the allotment line has been carried out in accordance with the ecology risk assessment of the contractor.We have also started to remove significant amounts of rubbish and litter from the site, and intend to maintain it to a high standard in order to protect and enhance its wildlife areas for many years to come’.