Protesters gathered outside the district council offices to campaign against the felling of Thanet's mature trees as councillors agreed to 153 new homes on a wooded site.

The development, which will involve the creation of modular homes at Westwood Lodge in Poorhole Lane in Broadstairs, will mean the loss of woodland.

But developers have made amendments to their plans which will retain more trees, involve replanting and create wildlife corridors across the site - which is thought to be a former burial pit for Black Plague victims.

This revised scheme was nodded through by Thanet District Council's planning committee on Wednesday.

This is despite huge outcry over the plans to develop the wooded site, which is home to a number of Grade II-listed structures including Westwood Lodge, which was built in 1864, and a 17th-century farm cottage and coach house.

Last year, former developer Places For People Homes Ltd pulled out of the scheme and Rooksmead Residential Ltd agreed terms with L&G Modular Homes on a revised set of proposals, relating to appearance, scale, layout and landscaping.

The original outline application for the houses was refused in 2015 but granted permission by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal in 2017.

A spokesman for campaign group Thanet Trees, whose members also protested in Poorhole Lane last year dressed as zombies, says no amount of mitigation will make up for the loss of the woodland.

"The loss of the biggest untouched area of woodland at Westwood Lodge in the green wedge is an avoidable tragedy," she said.

"No amount of mitigation in the form of hedgehog highways and bat boxes can make up for the harm this will have on wildlife in the area.

"Woodland habitats don’t survive intact when humans develop them.

"Trees on this site were given a TPO with good reason, but protections have been rendered meaningless when there is money to be made.

"All that will remain are managed fragments, dominated by the impact of humans.

"The UK has the dubious honour of leading the way in the destruction of the natural environment, with over 40% of our wildlife disappearing in the past 50 years.

"Sadly it seems that this rapid decline in biodiversity will carry on apace across Thanet, as we continue to lead the way in the destruction of the natural world."

But in planning documents, Kevin Pressland, biodiversity and horticulture officer at Thanet District Council, says if the land management proposals are enacted as envisioned in the developer's plans, it could be an "exemplary example for flora and fauna connectivity and people's enjoyment".

Around an extra 2.89 hectares of woodland will be retained compared to the initial plans including a lot of the mature trees and woodland as well as some of the trees with preservation orders.

There will also be hedgehog highways, swift and bat boxes and a pond, in addition to wildflower areas.

Campaigners from Mature Trees Matter staged a peaceful protest outside the district council offices ahead of Wednesday's planning meeting calling for Thanet's trees to be protected.

They are also fighting the decision to fell a sycamore tree on a site in Duke Street and have taken legal action.

The tree was cut down despite protesters camping out in a bid to protect the sycamore.

But they were moved on and the site, once earmarked as a spot for a community garden, was cleared to make way for flats and a commercial unit.

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