DESPITE the claims on the notices installed by the trust beside the Lydney lake, stating that they are encouraging and supporting biodiversity and conservation, the alterations to the landscape of the Lydney Lake area have actually done the opposite. 

Anyone believing that the creation of a small flower bed and the installation of supposed bug hotels have improved the biodiversity of the area is mistaken. 

These bug hotels bear no resemblance to the artificial structures suitable for the survival of bugs – look on the internet to find out how these structures should be built. 

The removal of the habitat between the lake and the bypass and its replacement with mown grassland has certainly improved the visual attractiveness of the area, but at the same time it was a biodiversity disaster – removing a large variety of trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers and all of the native wildlife inhabiting them. 

The 21 species of butterfly which have been recorded in this area are certainly no longer present. 

The planting of a few wildflowers beside the lake cannot compensate for the loss of this much larger, biodiverse habitat.

I also use the lake area almost daily and in response to the writer of the letter Parochial views, I personally doubt that the residents are delighted to see that the flowerbeds now block access from their properties.

I doubt that the anglers are delighted that they cannot park close to where they fish, especially in the winter and I doubt that the elderly, who used to park adjacent to the lake to enjoy watching the lakeside activities from the warmth of their cars, are delighted that they can no longer do this. 

I am not aware that the slow-moving cars using this area have ever created a hazard nor could they be accurately described as being noisy.

I do not consider myself parochial and I seriously wonder who is actually wearing the rose-tinted glasses mentioned by the writer.

– Wildlife lover and resident, Lydney.