Overview

• Residents say filming operations blocked drainage ditches, widened vehicle tracks and laid steel plates over meadows just as wildflowers began to bloom
• The BBC and National Trust insist all infrastructure is temporary and have pledged to reseed fields, restore ditches and revert landscape changes after the three-week live Springwatch shoot
• Production was powered chiefly by a green hydrogen fuel cell certified by BAFTA Albert to minimise CO₂ emissions
• Local council worker Christine Laver and Countryside Alliance director Mo Metcalf-Fisher voiced concerns over ecosystem disruption from heavy vehicles and temporary infrastructure
• Presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan are filming live at Longshaw estate in celebration of Springwatch’s 20th anniversary