By . David Wilkes . An eco-warrior has made his home in an apple tree to prevent developers chopping it down. Rowan Burrough has spent most of the past week in the 150-year-old tree, in the heart of Cider With Rosie country in Gloucestershire. His efforts have drawn comparisons with those of Swampy – real name Daniel Hooper – the campaigner who hit the headlines in 1996 when he dug tunnels under the proposed routes of major road projects. Shall not be moved: Rowan Burrough has been camping out in the boughs of this apple tree for the past week . Happy camper: Mr Burrough has constructed a bed and brought up other essentials . He has garnered overwhelming support from residents, who have been bringing him soup, sandwiches and water. But the protest was almost ended yesterday when the 44-year-old climbed down at 3am to try to sneak a few hours' sleep in a bed. By 5am contractors had moved in and begun lopping the 20ft tree. Mr Burrough raced back, evaded police and scaled the tree again, joined by a second protester, Matthew Sell, 39. They want to protect the tree – and a thriving colony of badgers beneath it. Prime land: The apple tree is part of a site set to be turned into luxury homes . Support: Locals of Stroud, Gloucestershire, have shown their support for the protest . Supplies: Enthusiastic local supporters have been supplying Mr Burrough with soup, sandwiches and water . Teamwork: Mr Burrough was far from alone in his efforts . Developers want to build 14 luxury homes on the one-acre site at Stroud, near the childhood home of Cider With Rosie author Laurie Lee. Mr Burrough said: ‘This is an old tree and the badger sett . is unusually large. There’s a growing movement in Britain to save . orchard trees and I personally want the badger sett fenced off as mini . nature reserve rather than moved. 'Or why can’t they incorporate it as . part of the houses’ gardens? ‘Just because something has been given . planning permission doesn’t mean it’s correct. If more people did what . I’m doing more often, councils would get a bit tired and change the . rules so they can retract their decision.’ Poised: Developers are waiting to chop the tree down and continue building . The peculiarly English . stand-off is happening on the edge of Stroud, Gloucestershire, on a . patch of land which was in years gone by an orchard and a market garden, . then became a much-loved green space which planning officers called the . ‘last breathing space for local people’. But . planning permission to build the 12 three-bedroom and two four-bedroom . houses in terrace blocks was granted to developer Gerry Walsh after he . bought the land - despite more than 100 letters of objection about his . controversial plans to Stroud District Council. The . site is just two miles from Slad, the village where Laurie Lee lived . and around which he based his famous novel about his bucolic childhood, . ‘Cider With Rosie’, and in this little corner of the country feelings . run high particularly about protecting the countryside and conserving . nature. Contractors began . clearing the site a fortnight ago, but at first the 20ft apple tree . remained intact thanks in no small part to Mr Burrough’s tree-scaling . prowess. Opposition: The local council received more than 100 letters opposing the development . A . steady stream of locals have been supporting his cause by coming to the . site with supplies for him and banners saying ‘Stroud apple town’ and . ‘Houses out, badger in’. Some children have made t-shirts with the logo . ‘Paws off our setts’. Judith . Pfeifer, 35, a landscape architect, whose home borders the site, said: . ‘I’m not against building homes, we need homes, but there should be . space for wildlife as well - human habitation and precious wildlife . should find a way to live together. ‘This . was a wildlife haven and the apple tree was part of our heritage. It . was so peaceful here before. Since the work began it feels like we’re . under siege.’ Under the planning permission, Mr Walsh must leave a 2.5m . wide dedicated ‘wildlife corridor’ along the western and southern . boundaries of the site. He . has also been granted a licence from Natural England for the badgers to . be moved. This is likely to be done by installing one-way gates over . the 22 entrances to their sett so they can get out, but can’t go back in . again.' Battle ground: Neither side had showed any sign of relenting . It is expected they will then wander off and make a find a new home with another nearby colony. Mr . Walsh’s planning agent Ben Read, of Hunter Page Planning, said: ‘He is . doing everything in accordance with the policies and has the necessary . planning permissions and consents. ‘The trees were looked at as part of the planning application and no preservation orders were put in place. 'An ecologist was appointed to deal with badger relocation and is on site to make sure that everything is done correctly.’ After yesterday’s early morning drama, the contractors stopped working temporarily and a single bulldozer sat idle on the site. A . Gloucestershire Police spokesman confirmed that contractors started . taking the apple tree down early yesterday when no one was in it, but . two-thirds of the way into their work a protester climbed back up the . tree. He added: ‘No one . was arrested or threatened with arrest. The Chief Inspector responsible . for Stroud is meeting with the owner of the land and we believe that no . action will be taken against any of the protesters because the . contractors what things done as low key as possible.’ Developer Gerard Walsh said: 'I hope we can have a reasonable discussion with the guys up the tree and persuade them what we're doing is the best that could be hoped for from any developer on this site.'
Rowan Burrough, 44, has been camping out in the tree all week .
He wants to stop builders chopping it down and displacing a badger family .
Locals in Stroud, Gloucestershire have supported his protest .
But the tree was nearly felled when Mr Burrough climbed down to sleep in a proper bed .
By . David Wilkes . An eco-warrior has made his home in an apple tree to prevent developers chopping it down. Rowan Burrough has spent most of the past week in the 150-year-old tree, in the heart of Cider With Rosie country in Gloucestershire. His efforts have drawn comparisons with those of Swampy – real name Daniel Hooper – the campaigner who hit the headlines in 1996 when he dug tunnels under the proposed routes of major road projects. Shall not be moved: Rowan Burrough has been camping out in the boughs of this apple tree for the past week . Happy camper: Mr Burrough has constructed a bed and brought up other essentials . He has garnered overwhelming support from residents, who have been bringing him soup, sandwiches and water. But the protest was almost ended yesterday when the 44-year-old climbed down at 3am to try to sneak a few hours' sleep in a bed. By 5am contractors had moved in and begun lopping the 20ft tree. Mr Burrough raced back, evaded police and scaled the tree again, joined by a second protester, Matthew Sell, 39. They want to protect the tree – and a thriving colony of badgers beneath it. Prime land: The apple tree is part of a site set to be turned into luxury homes . Support: Locals of Stroud, Gloucestershire, have shown their support for the protest . Supplies: Enthusiastic local supporters have been supplying Mr Burrough with soup, sandwiches and water . Teamwork: Mr Burrough was far from alone in his efforts . Developers want to build 14 luxury homes on the one-acre site at Stroud, near the childhood home of Cider With Rosie author Laurie Lee. Mr Burrough said: ‘This is an old tree and the badger sett . is unusually large. There’s a growing movement in Britain to save . orchard trees and I personally want the badger sett fenced off as mini . nature reserve rather than moved. 'Or why can’t they incorporate it as . part of the houses’ gardens? ‘Just because something has been given . planning permission doesn’t mean it’s correct. If more people did what . I’m doing more often, councils would get a bit tired and change the . rules so they can retract their decision.’ Poised: Developers are waiting to chop the tree down and continue building . The peculiarly English . stand-off is happening on the edge of Stroud, Gloucestershire, on a . patch of land which was in years gone by an orchard and a market garden, . then became a much-loved green space which planning officers called the . ‘last breathing space for local people’. But . planning permission to build the 12 three-bedroom and two four-bedroom . houses in terrace blocks was granted to developer Gerry Walsh after he . bought the land - despite more than 100 letters of objection about his . controversial plans to Stroud District Council. The . site is just two miles from Slad, the village where Laurie Lee lived . and around which he based his famous novel about his bucolic childhood, . ‘Cider With Rosie’, and in this little corner of the country feelings . run high particularly about protecting the countryside and conserving . nature. Contractors began . clearing the site a fortnight ago, but at first the 20ft apple tree . remained intact thanks in no small part to Mr Burrough’s tree-scaling . prowess. Opposition: The local council received more than 100 letters opposing the development . A . steady stream of locals have been supporting his cause by coming to the . site with supplies for him and banners saying ‘Stroud apple town’ and . ‘Houses out, badger in’. Some children have made t-shirts with the logo . ‘Paws off our setts’. Judith . Pfeifer, 35, a landscape architect, whose home borders the site, said: . ‘I’m not against building homes, we need homes, but there should be . space for wildlife as well - human habitation and precious wildlife . should find a way to live together. ‘This . was a wildlife haven and the apple tree was part of our heritage. It . was so peaceful here before. Since the work began it feels like we’re . under siege.’ Under the planning permission, Mr Walsh must leave a 2.5m . wide dedicated ‘wildlife corridor’ along the western and southern . boundaries of the site. He . has also been granted a licence from Natural England for the badgers to . be moved. This is likely to be done by installing one-way gates over . the 22 entrances to their sett so they can get out, but can’t go back in . again.' Battle ground: Neither side had showed any sign of relenting . It is expected they will then wander off and make a find a new home with another nearby colony. Mr . Walsh’s planning agent Ben Read, of Hunter Page Planning, said: ‘He is . doing everything in accordance with the policies and has the necessary . planning permissions and consents. ‘The trees were looked at as part of the planning application and no preservation orders were put in place. 'An ecologist was appointed to deal with badger relocation and is on site to make sure that everything is done correctly.’ After yesterday’s early morning drama, the contractors stopped working temporarily and a single bulldozer sat idle on the site. A . Gloucestershire Police spokesman confirmed that contractors started . taking the apple tree down early yesterday when no one was in it, but . two-thirds of the way into their work a protester climbed back up the . tree. He added: ‘No one . was arrested or threatened with arrest. The Chief Inspector responsible . for Stroud is meeting with the owner of the land and we believe that no . action will be taken against any of the protesters because the . contractors what things done as low key as possible.’ Developer Gerard Walsh said: 'I hope we can have a reasonable discussion with the guys up the tree and persuade them what we're doing is the best that could be hoped for from any developer on this site.'
chopping it down. Rowan Burrough has spent most be moved: Rowan Burrough has been camping out in Happy camper: Mr Burrough has constructed a bed the protest was almost ended yesterday when the Stroud, Gloucestershire, have shown their support waiting to chop the tree down and continue