Fence vandals put newt rescue at risk (From Romsey Advertiser)

Fence vandals put newt rescue at risk

5:06pm Thursday 26th August 2010 in News

VANDALS are wrecking an ecologist’s bid to save protected animals on a field earmarked for a controversial 800-home urban village.

Special fences, posts and buckets designed to help move Great Crested Newts have been ripped out of the ground repeatedly on the Abbotswood site in Romsey.

Now the man charged with relocating the rare creatures has begged those responsible for the damage to let him complete his work before construction begins.

Matthew Clarke said he had received reports that the damage may have been caused by youths or dog walkers.

Although he has no specific evidence of who has carried out the vandalism, he fears some may have mistaken his work as the first steps in construction on the site, which was controversially given outline planning permission in January.

Since ecological work started earlier this month, around 25 per cent of the hundreds of metres of plastic fencing has been kicked over or torn out. Now police have been informed.

Dr Clarke, who works for Hampshire-based Ecological Planning and Research, said: “We are just the ecologists. Our job is to take care of the wildlife, but people are wrecking it.

“There is damage more or less every day.

“If we can’t trap properly, we are not going to be able to clear the newts to a safe place before the construction begins.

“We are only just trying to get started and this vandalism is really hindering our progress.”

The first phase of the Abbotswood scheme will see 150 homes built on the site, off Woodley Lane, in 2011. A further 150 homes are then set to be built each year until 2015-16.

Campaigners battled for years to prevent development on the site, trying unsuccessfully to have it classified as a village green.

Ecological work is currently taking place in the western section of the field in an area earmarked as a conservation zone including ponds and woodland.

Pedestrian access has been maintained with signs directing the public away from sensitive areas.

“The longer people keep vandalising these fences, the longer the fences will have to be here,” Dr Clarke added.

“The developers are not stopping people coming on to the land, but we want to get the message across that we are here for ecology.”