People living near a vacant strip of land in Twerton being considered for housing have reacted angrily after the site was partially cleared.
Social landlord Curo has said it is considering making a planning application on the small piece of land near Lansdown View and in preparation the organisation carried out investigatory work at the site last week.
The strip of land runs between houses on Lansdown View and the railway line and was subject to a planning application back in 2004, which was refused by Bath and North East Somerset Council because of access issues.
Mike Hill, who has lived in Lansdown View for 16 years and fought the previous application, said: "Given the fact we have already had some dialogue with Curo going back more than a year and made it clear we were going to fight it, we are disappointed that they gave us no warning this work was going to take place."
He added: "Taking a big digger to this site quite indiscriminantly saying they have ensured minimum impact on wildlife, I find this very hard to believe. This is going to be a battleground."
Councillor June Player (Ind, Westmoreland) said: "This land has been an open space for years which was previously allotments and has become a sanctuary for all different types of wildlife including birds, foxes and badgers."
A spokesman for Curo said: "We have been carrying out ground investigation works at Lansdown View. We don't own that land, but we are working with the landowner to bring forward a housing scheme on the site. We are undertaking unobtrusive investigations to help us assess the site; our consultant has taken great care to ensure minimum impact on wildlife. All neighbouring properties have been informed about our plans."