Lee Brady's Recording Blog

Allerthorpe Discussion

Has anyone else been to Allerthorpe near York recently ? It's a local lowland heathland and pine forest that has a wealth of reptile and amphibians not to mention birdlife and other wildlife. I've just been today and can't believe the work that they are carrying out there.

I acknowledge that there is a problem with birch trees growing through the heathland causing shade and generally taking over the habitat but the work that is been done to combat this beggars belief. Heavy machinery, diggers etc has been brought in and vast areas have been cleared down to soil level leaving bare earth compacted down with tyre marks !

A few very small islands have been left within these bare areas but they are very few. Notices have been posted stating that the work does look drastic but heather will grow back and it has been done with the full backing of Natural England.

How can they justify this destruction of habitat ?

via www.herpetofauna.co.uk

 

Lots of discussion of the Allerthorpe incident on the RAUK Forum.

 

Hypocrisy?

Wildlife experts say moving slow worms and lizards from Gloucester to Cheltenham could be vital for the survival of the creatures. Ecology Solutions is spearheading an effort to transport the animals from the Railway Triangle development to Leckhampton Hill. The firm is working on the migration with Natural England, Cheltenham Borough Council and Friends of Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common. Its senior ecologist Karl Goodbun said: "There's a need to protect them." 

via www.thisissomerset.co.uk

 

So on one hand NE advocate the translocation of reptiles from proposed development sites such as this. Yet at nature reserves such as Allerthorpe Common NE undertake wholesale habitat disturbance without any mitigation works at all. It doesn't make any sense.

 

Allerthorpe Common

“Thanks to this thoughtless, inconsiderate and uneducated choice of clearance it has wiped out not just these populations of reptile but also an important co-existing ecosystem for all the other species and, due to this mismanagement, will obviously take many, many years before anything thrives there again.”

via www.pocklingtonpost.co.uk

 

These habitat restoration works at a Site of Special Scientific Interest clearly do not follow best practice for managing sites that are known to support important reptile populations. As a professional ecological consultant that advises Natural England and industry on the legality of works affecting reptile habitat, I must admit to being shocked and highly disappointed by what has occurred here. The fact that NE only revised their plans in response to comments made by the public strikes me as being highly unprofessional. The works may have resulted in individual animals being killed and that would be unlawful. Since the impact of large scale habitat works such as these are of real concern to those of us who undertake reptile conservation, I believe that it is in the public interest to inform the police to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to consider a prosecution.

 

Sainsbury’s Application Refused Partly Due to Slow-worm

7) The presence of the protected slow worm species. Although Sainsbury’s proposed moving them to a suitable “receptor” site, one was not identified in the application.

via www.ledburyreporter.co.uk

 

Interesting that local planning authorities are starting to enforce full disclosure of proposed mitigation works within applications for planning consent. It is no longer sufficient to simply state that mitigation works will be undertaken.

 

Busy bee

All quiet on the blog front at the moment. I have a large report based contract with a tight deadline that has been consuming all of my free time. Hoping for a bit of free writing time in a week or so.

Did spot a beefly in the garden today though, so I know spring is nearly here!

Drought Declared in South-east England

The south-east of England is officially in a state of drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced.

via www.bbc.co.uk

 

Service Announcement: ARG db Server Planned Downtime

The ARG db server is taking a short holiday while I reconfigure the service. Hopefully it won't be out of action for too long.

OS Get-a-Map Service to be Withdrawn

This is really disappointing... 

 

 

The new service is much slower to load, requires a password login and does not automatically present a view that is the equivalent of an Explorer OS map (1:25 000 scale). Printed maps also appear to be at a much lower resolution. 

 

 

Dry Winter Brings Warnings of South East Hosepipe Bans

South East Water said aquifer levels were near "severe" status, restrictions could not be ruled out, and people should "prepare for a dry summer".

via www.bbc.co.uk

Here we go again...

 

Developer Appeals Decision at Reservoir Site

AN appeal against the Town Hall’s decision to block a homes development on a disused reservoir is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, according to a residents’ association.

Linden Wates, a company that builds gated estates described as “Brookside-style en-claves” by opponents, bought a site in Gondar Gardens, West Hampstead, in January 2010.

Despite the land enjoying legal protection from being built on, they have submitted an application to build luxury homes.

It is a habitat for protected species such as slow worms and bats, and enjoys the urban equivalent of green belt status – prompting Camden Council’s planning committee to dismiss the application.

via www.camdennewjournal.com

I guess we need to better understand what is meant by the term legal protection.