This issue was not tested at the appeal.  KER maintains its view that the argument below is correct.  As the Inspector agreed with nearly everything else we said our case is strong !

In the Stroud District Local Plan the proposed site is WHOLLY within an area that is a "key wildlife site". This applies to both schemes.

Sport Optima tried to dispute this by carrying out its own survey.  Surprisingly it found nothing of value except some bats for which it planned to put up a few nestboxes!

Once again the District Plan - researched over time - is more accurate.  The fields are histroric pasture land and part of the green corridor that goes from the Severn to the AONB.  It is home for wildlife both resident and transitory.  The area is rich in mammal life (badgers and foxes locally) and bird life.

Conversion to short cropped sport pitches would have destroyed this habit forever.

That is why it is a key wildlife site in the local plan (marked in horizontal green lines on map below).