WILDLIFE campaigners have welcomed a temporary reprieve from developers for a site dubbed "the York Minster of nature", but have spoken out against plans for housebuilding close to another fragile ecosystem south of York.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust earlier this year issued an impassioned plea to save Askham Bog and Heslington Tilmire from housing plans under the draft York local plan.

Both sites were close to land earmarked for large housing developments, and the trust's experts feared a devastating knock-on effect for wildlife at both locations.

A rallying call by the trust to its campaigners resulted in dozens of objections to the council, and chief executive Rob Stoneman thanked supporters, and said: "This site is not just special for wildlife, but has a special place in the hearts of local people. To have risk destroying it is unthinkable."

But although the Moor Lane site close to Askham Bog is no longer listed for housebuilding in the local plan's 15 year period, the trust is still concerned that is it now safeguarded land which could be developed in the future.

And the Heslington Tilmire Site of Special Scientific Interest is still at risk, they said, with the Whinthorpe development is still part of the latest draft plan with a 400m buffer zone between building and the nature site.

Dr Stoneman added “Yorkshire Wildlife Trust commends City of York Council for the decision to change the allocation affecting Askham Bog. We are delighted that they have recognised how important the site is for both wildlife and people but we hope they will protect this land permanently.”

“We know that we need more houses and that development is essential, we just need to ensure it is in the right place.”