TV nature expert, Chris Packham, claims that plans for a controversial treetop adventure course are putting cash before wildlife.

He has called for council bosses to look again at the proposal for a Go Ape site in the Itchen Valley Country Park, Eastleigh.

The Springwatch presenter said the Go Ape site went against a bio-diversity plan for the area, which he had helped the borough council to compile.

Councillors on the authority’s Hedge End, West End and Botley local area committee voted nine to two in favour of the plan.

“I think this is fast-tracking funds into the council’s pocket,” said Chris.

“Wildlife works in long terms; it doesn’t work through terms of political office. This is someone putting cash into the pockets of a council. What responsible councillor wants that as their legacy for the borough?”

Construction on the course is likely to start soon, subject to the application being rubber stamped by the Lib-Demcontrolled council.

Chris, who said he had known Itchen Valley Country Park very well as a youngster, believes there are other sites that could have been used instead for the adventure course.

He said: “My daughter and I go to one in France a lot, not owned by Go Ape, but it’s the same sort of thing and we greatly enjoy it, but it’s in a place where there is no wildlife value whatsoever.

“The Itchen Valley Country Park is healthy for wildlife. It’s somewhere that people from the borough can go and enjoy wildlife and be educated as to that value.

“It’s disappointing that they have put this sort of resource in the same place.

Surely they could have put it in somewhere like Stoke Park. In my opinion that would be far more suitable.”

Eastleigh Borough Council hit back at Chris’s comments, saying that the Go Ape application had been closely scrutinised and that changes had been made to minimise the impact on wildlife.

A spokesman for Eastleigh Borough Council said: “The council’s work at the country park has significantly helped the wildlife in the area, including the recolonisation of otters on the Itchen, protection and growth of the water vole population and management of the woodlands.

“All of this is to the benefit of wildflowers and butterflies and we would not want to undermine what has been achieved.”

Ben Davies, business development manager for Go Ape, said: “The Itchen Valley Country Park Go Ape proposal has taken into account the local biodiversity and will implement appropriate measures that will minimise any effects and deliver habitat enhancements.”