Sign up to the MySalford newsletter to keep up with what's happening in and around the city Wildlife campaigners and local residents feared the worst when workmen began clearing a meadow.
They asked them what they were doing as wild flowers, high grasses, and bramble were removed from the plot which is a haven for birds and other creatures.
Contractors, they say, told them the land in Walkden, Salford, was being levelled in preparation to be sold, "probably" for housing.
But the landowners insist they were merely "mowing the grass". The land is between a new housing estate at Linnyshaw and the M61.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk