A PARISH council is considering changes to how it could work in the future following a furore over the clearance of trees and vegetation from a village beauty spot.

The clearance work at the Water Park in Middleton-St-George, near Darlington, sparked outrage in February, with residents up in arms about the destruction of wildlife.

Middleton-St-George Parish Council, which launched an investigation following the incident, this week published three reports outlining the reasons for the work, mistakes made and changes that could be made.

It insists the work done was necessary – but has admitted it could have done more to make residents aware of it.

It has now apologised to residents for the way information about the work was provided and several other mistakes, including not accepting a lower tender for the work and removing vegetation from a nearby developer’s field, and said it regretted not seeking advice on whether a wildlife license was needed.

The bill so far is £18,964 plus VAT. A decision about the re-seeding of the bank has not been taken.

A meeting of the parish council also heard this week that a complaint had been made, which is due to be investigated.

At Monday’s monthly meeting the parish council agreed to release the reports to the public.

Councillor Adrian Marshall, who is part of the working group established to look into what happened, said a further extraordinary meeting could be held if residents still had questions. He said: “The feeling of the working group was that we would be led by members of the public whether we need to take this matter further by having another meeting.”

The council reiterated that it had “no choice” but to do the work following a recommendation that the banks should be cleared of vegetation to allow for them to be inspected. The report said: “The building of houses on the field immediately south of the water park mean that the parish council had to obtain professional advice regarding how the stability of the banks, holding back what is a considerable volume of water, could be ensured.

“Once that advice had been received, it had to be acted upon, which meant clearing all scrub vegetation from the south facing bank – the parish council had no choice but to do this.”

It went on to say the message had not been conveyed to the community, resulting in a “completely understandable level of shock”.

The reports confirmed the work was carried out to the council’s specification and the contractor was paid on March 2.

The parish council also wrote to the contractor to apologise for undue problems and distress experienced during the clearance.

According to the council’s report, the contractor experienced obstruction from people pushing past his fencing, causing work to stop, and threats being made.

The council has made a number recommendations for the future, including adopting a procurement and contracts policy, having a project manager for contracted work above a certain threshold, better communication with residents, and ensuring that all permission and licences are applied for.

It has also recommended working with the environment officer on future care and management of the Water Park, as well as considering whether it could apply for tree preservation orders for any remaining trees.

The council said it “regretted” the loss of a hedge and regretted not following up on planning guidance in relation to its removal. It was sent information about hedgerow removal by Darlington Borough Council which it was meant to return if the hedge met the criteria – but this was not followed up.

The council also did not seek advice on whether a wildlife licence was needed.