AN ecologist claims the commitment to including the Middlewick Ranges in the Local Plan was based on “incorrect evidence”, after an FOI exposed a previously unseen report highlighting the environmental significance of the site.

Martin Pugh, who is an ecology expert and part of the Save the Wick campaign, believes the possibility of housebuilding on the Middlewick Ranges would have evaporated had a report produced in 2017 been published.

A second report, published in 2020, gave the Wick a lower biodiversity score which has arguably smoothed the path for development.

That report referenced the 2017 paper, which was uncovered via an FOI request.

He said: “[The 2020 report] made the plans look more achievable.

“The area they have downgraded is the area they want to build on – it is like they looked at that and thought, ‘we are not going to get a gain with that, we are going to have to play around with the maps’.

“They made a huge leap from a very high quality habitat to a very low quality habitat – that’s what we have exposed.

“This will set a catastrophic precent for other national wildlife sites.

“We have to set an alternative positive precedent, saying ‘here is a red line’ – sites of such value can’t be committed to housing, especially based on incorrect evidence.”