OVER 5,800 PETITION THE RHS BRIDGEWATER OVER FURTHER CULLING OF SALFORD'S DEER AS ANGER CONTINUES TO GROW

A petition that was set up within hours of news breaking via the Salford Star that a small number of Deer (Reportedly 10) were culled, after finding themselves outside of an enclosure at the 156 acre site off Leigh Road now occupied by the Royal Horticultural Society close to Boothstown and the village of Roe Green which takes its name from the much loved breed of Deer that has freely roamed the land for over a century or more.

THE COST WAS DEER - ANGER AS RHS CULLS ROE DEER SENDING SHOTS THROUGH THE HEARTS OF THE CITY (salford.media)

This petition has now reached over a staggering 5,800 signatures within just over 48 hours and those numbers are still rising, giving a clear indication to the size of the opposition to the actions which were undertaken apparently without knowledge by local councillors or the council as a whole.

Sam Sykes who took to the change.org site to set up the petition states that it is to protect the herd from future culling and to raise awareness of their plight.

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"I started a petition to ensure RHS Garden Bridgewater's actions (culling of roe deer who had returned to their site, as generations before them had roamed the land for over a century) would not be allowed to go unnoticed and in 4 hours it received over 1000 signatures from like minded people who do NOT want to see any future deer, who may get access to the land, meet the same fate.

"The RHS stated that because of covid, they could not safely move the deer on to another location (as they claimed to have done with those who were on the land last Summer) and therefore the only solution was to cull them.

"They had previously denied that the increasing number of deer being found in the Bridgewater canal was in no way related to their building work (they destroyed over half of their habitat, the woodlands at the back of the site), but thanks to pressure from Salford Greenspace, Salford Wildlife and a few of our local councillors, they did admit to the culling, which had been rumoured to be happening."

 

Same goes on to say on the petition site that:

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"Just to make this clear - we aren't dealing with culling to control a large herd, this was a small amount of deer who roamed back to the site, and the RHS had previously made promises that they would move any deer on. They did not.

"We must be the voice for our wildlife. We can NOT let the RHS think they are above being questioned for their actions."

 

It is understood that the council and local councillors have demanded a meeting with RHS manager Richard Green as early as this evening along with the veterinary surgeons who it is said are to have carried out the culling on behalf of the society.

The RHS stated on Saturday via a social media post that the culling was required due to Covid preventing the numbers of people that were needed to capture and relocated them being on site.

Although locals have argued that the site has had large numbers of people working there over the last year, including the months at the peek of the pandemic.

Earlier this morning the petitions organiser Sam met with 5 other locals who had ventured down to the gates at the front of the RHS, and were assured that someone would soon be out to speak with them and answer their questions and address their concerns. However shortly afterwards police officers turned up and implied that the gathering was illegal due to the current regulations concerning covid-19. They were then told that the road they were on was private and asked to remove themselves.

The outpouring of anger has resonated across Salford with countless people threatening to Boycott the gardens when it opens in 2021. This level of public discontent has not been seen since the days of iGas which planned to pursue hydraulic gas fracturing at a site on Barton Moss.

The next move is in the court of RHS Bridgewater who will undoubtedly have to achieve a Christmas miracle if they wish to once again regain the trust of the locals and the City in the future. 

Salford has a long memory.