New wildlife hospital scheme turned down by councillors

A CHARITY failed to get permission to build a new wildlife hospital to carry on its “vital work’, after concerns were raised about the impact on the countryside.

- By HANNAH BROWN Local democracy reporter

Artist's impressions of the proposed Long Acre Wildlife Hospital in Kirtling

(MAUDE + EDWARDS ARCHITECTS)

The Long Acre Wildlife Hospital was proposed to be built off Water Lane, Long Acre, in Kirtling, in order to provide a new purpose-built base for the Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital.

Sue Stubley founded the hospital in 2008 to care for hedgehogs, but since then the charity has “grown significantly” and now provides urgent care for a wide variety of wildlife.

Ms Stubley had asked East Cambridgeshire District Council for permission to build the new hospital in order to continue its “vital work”.

At a planning committee meeting last week (Wednesday, January 14), Angie Curtis, representing Ms Stubley, highlighted the need for the new wildlife hospital.

She said: “This is not a speculative scheme, it is a real and practical response to a real and worsening crisis. Local wildlife is under increasing pressure, while rescue capacity across the region is shrinking rapidly.

“In the last two years alone, more than nine wildlife rescue centres have closed across the region. When centres close the need does not disappear, it is displaced, it falls on those remaining and ultimately onto individuals like Sue. Sue treats more than 1,000 animals every year, not just hedgehogs.