Wildlife Habitats Need Protection
Your Concerns CountGrovesend Field provides home territories with corridors to link the key habitats of many wildlife species that are resident or actively using the field and adjoining habitats. Badger, fox, and other mammals are seen regularly in adjacent gardens, accessed from the field. Remarkably, an otter has also recently been observed on a tracker camera. Additionally newts, other amphibians that are at risk nationally (inc. smooth newts, frogs and toads) use this too, together with grass snakes and slow worms.
The ecology report on the application uses an outdated statement/map on Special Wildlife Sites in Herefordshire – nor did the authors contact the Council’s official Records Centre where all the county’s species information is held.
Do you think our wildlife habitats need proper and reasonable protection?
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The application
Visit www.herefordshire.gov.uk and search for application no. 230457.
Commenting on this application through has closed as the application has been decided.
A village poll on this application took place on Wednesday 14th June '23. The poll was requested at a recent parish meeting by a large number of local residents who were asked: “Do you oppose the development of a new housing estate on the Grovesend Field site in the Conservation Area off Old Church Road?”
The poll is not binding but was held to get a clear understanding of the views of the village. There was an emphatic answer with 92% voting against the proposed development. For full poll results please see here
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The ecology report in the application uses an outdated statement/map on Special Wildlife Sites in Herefordshire and has not identified the Great Crested Newt (a nationally protected species) and other species for the site in adjacent land, nor identified the nearby bodies of water. The authors had not contacted the Council’s official Records Centre, where all the county’s species information is held.
Badger, fox, and other mammals are seen regularly in adjacent gardens, accessed from the field. Remarkably, an otter has also recently been observed on a tracker camera. The field provides home territories with corridors to link the key habitats of many of these species that are resident or actively using the field and adjoining habitats. As well as the newts, other amphibians that are at risk nationally (inc. smooth newts, frogs and toads) use this too, together with grass snakes and slow worms.
The survey failed to identify various relevant water bodies and determined “The site was concluded to be of low wildlife interest” as a result – making it allegedly unsuitable for Great Crested Newts. This failure indicates that there was no thorough assessment of the habitat of the field, or the adjacent land, which is alarming given the abundance of wildlife that may be impacted.
We have received Guidance from local Ecologist Nigel Hand (www.centralecology.co.uk). He reports that any planning application should include an environmentally well-designed, long-term habitat creation scheme, with cover vegetation planting, wildlife pond or ponds, and a safe corridor provision on and off site sensitively maintained for the long term.
Great Crested Newt photographed on adjoining land