Trees at Lanehouse Rocks Road, Weymouth felled by Betterment Properties

Number 93 Lanehouse Rocks Road has been bought by Betterment Properties, and tree felling has been underway since last week, as the developer says it is clearing the land so that pre-planning surveys can go ahead.

• Read more: 'They have flattened everything' - video shows giant tree being felled by developer

The detached property, which includes around an acre of land, was sold at the end of last year - but at present no planning application has been submitted.

Betterment Properties has not commented on what it plans to do with the site, but intends to make an application this summer.

Meanwhile, around 30 mature trees that lined the edge of the road have been 'bulldozed' - prompting concerns about wildlife.

Video shot by Lanehouse resident Storm Wallace shows the extent of the desecration -  and pictures below show how the road looks completely different without the trees.

How the site looked before... Picture: Storm Wallace

Betterment said there were no tree preservation orders on the site.

But Storm Wallace, who lives opposite the site, said: "I am livid - there have been two owls living in the big tree there since as long as I can remember.

"It makes me feel sick seeing it, after living there so long - there should be a law against this. When a tree is that big and old, and there are so few around, it's pretty obvious birds would be living in there.

"I wish I'd known this was happening so I could have chained myself to the tree - I cannot believe they've done this."

...and how it looks now Picture: Storm Wallace

Meanwhile, Councillor Gill Taylor, who represents Westham West on Weymouth Town Council, has raised concerns about bats living in the trees.

"They're really old trees," she said. "I made some enquiries about the felling last week - and while there's no tree preservation orders, I have raised concerns about bats.

I'm really not very happy about trees being cut down - with the current climate situation there should be more trees being planted, not being taken down. They should be replaced with at least one mature tree for each one that's been removed - although I'd like to see two in place of each.

"I think there's around 30 trees that have gone - there is sufficient land at the site to put more back, so when a planning application is submitted I would like to see an acknowledgement of the number that have been taken down, and conditions requiring them to be replaced."

Betterment Properties says advice has been sought about wildlife.

Joe Saunders, director at Betterment Properties, said: "The land is being strategically cleared in order to carry out pre-planning surveys.

"The extent of trees cleared has been set by expert advice to take into account wildlife and we are outside of bird nesting season. We are working closely with Julian Brown Consultancy Ltd to ensure that the badgers present on site are not harmed in any way. Clearly it is not possible to redevelop an area without impacting on the local street scene however our proposed designs are sympathetic to the area and allow for replanting of approved, local provenance species.

"Dorset Council Planning has been briefed on our intended plans for the site. I can confirm that the site does not have any tree protection orders attached to it and it is not a designated conservation area."