Gift to Nature, a local charity that looks after more than 30 green spaces across the Isle of Wight, says it is disappointed by the vandalism of a natural habitat at Pig Leg Lane in Ryde.
Photographs shared with the organisation by Karen Lucioni show a make shift shelter erected in the trees, alongside general littering and earth dug up to form a ‘heart’.
Locals tell Island Echo that the fire service were called out earlier this week when an open fire was spotted in the area, which has been described as an important green space for the town of Ryde. Groups of youths have been heard in the woods over several nights.
Gift to Nature says that acts of vandalism such as this bring into question future plans for green spaces as the organisation can ill afford the resources it takes to deal with such problems when they have 30 sites to manage but just 2 rangers.
Islanders are asked to keep an eye out for anyone creating ‘depressing havoc’ and to call 01983 296244 with any information.
UPDATE – In a statement, Gift to Nature has said:
“Yesterday we were alerted by residents, that the Pig Leg Lane, open green space in Ryde had suffered some unwelcome activity.
“Large areas of turf had been dug up in the attempt to create some kind of den and various household items have been strewn across the site. We are also aware that bonfires have been lit on quite a few occasions and on at least on incident the fire service was called.
Article continues below this advertisement “It is sadly part of the ranger’s weekly life to have to restore areas after anti-social behaviour and it is disappointing as they would much prefer to use their time and energy on more positive management like, clearing scrub, hedge laying , responding to any hazards and cultivating sites for nature.
“There seemed to be an increase in litter across our sites as we emerged from there last lockdown and although we hope users will respect the sites there will always be a few that don’t .
“The area is being assessed and will be cleared shortly.
“We hope that this high-profile incident will encourage local residents to be more engaged with these important sites and continue to alert us if they come across any problems”.
Poor bored youngsters in Ryde with nothing to do. I know, let’s build them a skate park.
Soon have plenty to do when Pennyfeathers starts to get built. Lots of vandalism opportunities and then when the hutches are filled with hundreds of feckless individuals they will have loads of like minded playmates.
We need more houses for the booming population!
We should only be allowed 1 child maybe two in certain circumstances.
Pig leg lane is the other side of the railway line (Oakfield) this destruction is off Rosemary/Weeks lane, unfortunately since the charity has improved the land it has become a place for drugs and camp fires maybe the Ryde Wardens can do a patrol always holiday time is a problem
Heaven forbid the Police could do a “fly by” or one of those pretend community officers, they know there is a problem there, and they think they deserve a heftier chunk out of Council tax… Perhaps they should set about earning it, and give the “little shites a firm kick in the derrier”
“IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME”…….. And destroy it
They are ‘ferral’ this is the only way to describe the mindless destruction of open green space. The kids that do this have no respect or understanding of the lovely outside space available in the area. All they understand and care about are their Xboxes, play stations and the violent games they play on them. Find these idiots, make them put right what they have destroyed.
So they are outside not on their xbox and you are complaining? Is it because you like to walk your dog there? It is normal things that youth of every generation have got up to camping and enjoying and open fire. Get over yourself.
OMG!! So Rob, so you’re saying they were outside, in the fresh air, not hauled up in their bedrooms playing Xbox……and you think this sort of behaviour is acceptable do you? Are you sure one of these kids aren’t yours?You think it’s ok for these idiots to smash and destroy whatever they like? You are as mindless as them. And no, I don’t walk my dog there. I don’t even live in Ryde, what difference does that make if I did.
its a bit of turf dug up and all you are acting like its some sort of criminal damage! kids are damned for staying indoors and damned for being outdoors hanging around town in gangs and damned for being outside out of the way. are they not allowed a childhood much like the rest of us did?
This is some terrible den building.
It is a sad reflection on society whether it is youths or adults that commit destruction like this. We can blame it on whatever or whoever we want, as can be seen on the comments in here. Comments that are so diverse yet do not get to the point of green spaces and natural habitat. If we continue to disrespect our heritage and wildlife it is really a bleak future for future generations.
they dug up some earth – it will grow itself back in no time – apparently it is ok to build thousands of benefit hutches on great swathes of greenland that wont grow back
they erected a shelter – wow – they played at camping
these whiny so called adults want to take a long hard look at themselves – at least the kids weren’t robbing your home, after getting smashed on cheap cider
Your garden next, hopefully. Then let’s see who whines.
It’s not someone’s garden though is it.?
Just kids messing about in the fields like they have done for countless years.
Though you would know that if you had lived in the area and used those fields for a while
A decade of austerity, closed youth centres, social decay, decintigration of the family unit.
All these things are our doing, so yes their behaviour is destructive. But they are a product of an environment we have created. We are all to blame.
Kids have been going down to those fields and messing about for decades.Some turf has been dug up to form a heart..quick call the police…Kids have made a den….Police stake out to catch the perps.Kids have made a small bonfire in a clearing..taser them…kids have dropped litter…because they have seen adults fly tipping and chucking take away rubbish out of their cars…I don’t think the kids will relish the chance to head down the fields with their mates for a afternoon of pruning to be honest though
I used to go into those fields as a kid and mess around – of course, we could have decided to trash peoples gardens, rob their stuff, harass them, rip up their garden plants and generally be a nuisance, which i was quite capable of being, however, i and others chose to go into the fields, climb the trees and play in the sunshine, out in nature.
I had a computer at home, so could have spent time on that, but we chose to go out and be active.
i guess some of the deadbeats on here have forgotten, – they were kids once.
I used to live in Ryde and have walked through here many times. There always was a little rubbish floating around and probably always will be, but its quite clear to see that the things scattered around aren’t just rubbish. To a kid, these are prime den building materials. even a spade can be seen in the photos, timber, bits of sheeting, even a chair. The turf has been dug up to form the base foundations of a den or little house. if you cant see that this was obviously a few kids playing at building a den then you probably didn’t get out much as a child yourself. These kids will be building our very future for tomorrow. Let them evolve.