Is There Negative Local Authority Kick-back On Wildlife Work? YES

 

 I was asked if I wasn't worried that I might get kick-back from the council over what I do?

I have had the council harassing me for years and since I started the Fox Deaths Project (which Bristol City Council stated they would assist in) and rodenticide use was mentioned...and the council allowing people on its allotments to use rodenticide despite other tenant complaints I have certainly had "kick-back".

Since I started on the wildlife corridors the harassment has picked up. Of course, nothing in writing but utter silence on every issue and a sudden "we need to remind you of your tenancy agreement" and not one single outstanding repair has been carried out in 7 years....?

About 8 years ago, after I made a formal complaint about council contractors ripping up a roadside hedgerow that had nesting birds in it as well as destroying crow nests in trees, two council officials (one was head of the department) visited and told me that every tree in my garden would need cutting down and that where I lived was "due for demolition in the next three years" anyway. The "nasty one" was trying to intimidate with aggressive pointing at me and raising his voice until I explained that he had better lower his tone and explained where I would be placing his finger if he continued..oh, and flower pots in the garden were a health and safety issue so needed removal. Long story short I got a full written apology from head of estate management over their harassing behaviour and pointing out that everything they had said was untrue.

A month later they tried it again. Pro wildlife and conservation has made me an enemy of the council since the 1990s so I get used to it! But we should be working together but those lucrative contracts....

I was once told that two badges I wear "will get you in trouble one day!"

Too late

I mention all of this as I think it worth showing how nasty Bristol City Council ("champions for the environment") can get and the dirty tricks they employ and get away with -like promising to leave green spaces alone and then trying to slip through construction on those sites -money talks.

Oh and because I used to be handed sick and injured pigeons the anti-wildlife folk left little messages. A dead crow one time and this at my front gate one morning

Do not expect an easy ride if you get into wildlife work and always expect more negative than positive.