Salmestone Ward Residents Association is raising cash to carry out a bat survey at the woods off Tivoli Road.
The group has almost raised its £400 target although they have now discovered finding will only be legally valid if the survey is delayed until May.
The survey is being undertaken following news that an application has been made to fell 77 trees at the site.
The association says it will lodge an objection to the application.
The association will submit the videos and photos to Thanet District Council and ask for an Ecological survey to be done before any trees are felled.
Tivoli site co-owner Ernest Biela has made the application citing disease and dead trees as the reason for the felling. He says he has also made an application to the Forestry Commission. The trees are plum, pear, Ash, Elm and Sycamores. A survey submitted with the application cites ‘extensive decay and disease’ among the findings.
Mr Biela previously told The Isle of Thanet news that there was a plan “replant on site to yield produce for eateries to complement locally sourced seafood and enhance the local food scene with entirely Margate derived menus.”
This was after a tree clearance at the site back in March. The work prompted objections from the Salmestone association and Thanet Trees group.
The trees group has also helped to fund the bat survey and has been leading objections over felling at the Tivoli site since the first tranche of works in March.
The group said the work meant a loss of yet more communal green space and isle tree cover, which according to a 2014 survey stood at only 4.4% for Thanet – putting it on a par with the City of London, the 7th lowest in the country.
John Finnegan, of the Salmestone association, called the latest application “dismaying.” The application was lodged with Thanet council last month. A decision is yet to be made.
The SWRA is holding its next general meeting at Salmestone Primary School, 7pm, on Wednesday September 11.
