The story in The Beacon about tree felling operations in the Rockfield area has brought the inevitable response, with one reader even launching into poetic verse on the matter.

We are delighted to print the other side of the story, but the correspondence on this matter is now closed.

SIR,

Cerys Atkins has complained loudly and waxed lyrical about the upsetting lack of birds and bird songs following the cutting back of the shrubs in the area around her property and the estate in general.

I have been able to quite happily listen to their early morning songs and have been watching them as they fly around and discover the shrubs once again.

The nuts and berries she says the birds have been robbed of have, in the most part, already fallen to the ground and the majority of the shrubs were already bare of fruits and leaves.

The fields close to the property owned by Cerys Atkins have an abundance of hedgerows for birds to forage and seek cover. If she cared to go out and discover the countryside, she would no doubt be mortified to find that the farming community and land managers alike have also cut back their hedges and cleared ditches as a matter of good land management at this time of year.

The hedges are not growing at this time of year and have already fruited and seeded ready for next year.

The birds no longer need their nests and will build new in the spring, when the shrubs will be producing new foliage and increased shoots lower down, so giving a far more dense and healthy shrubbery.

Many of us are avid bird watchers and provide winter feeding stations in our own gardens. Perhaps Cerys Atkins would care to do this to encourage birds to her garden and to help sustain them throughout the winter months.

As to the timorous persons who do not feel safe walking along the pathway at night, may I remind Ms Atkins that the path is there for everyone to use with confidence and in safety.

It provides a car free and level route. Children can use the path as a safe way to the playing field, with only one roadway to negotiate. It is a more pleasant walkway for dog walkers away from traffic, which can distract and frighten.

In the summer months some emergency cutting back had to be done as the pathway had become rather overgrown and difficult to negotiate, but they were not cut back severely as this was the wrong time of the year to perform this kind of hedge maintenance.

The pathway is often used by a disabled friend of mind, who lives nearby. It enables her to reach another friend's house with greater ease.

Cerys Atkins is bemoaning the loss of habitats, which have been lost forever due to the building of the estate. Why did she buy a property on the estate if she felt so strongly? She has participated in the destruction of such habitats by buying the property.

The Council have adopted the land on the estate and are managing it and trying to keep it pleasant for everyone.

Vicky Parker

(Monmouth)