At an upcoming development site in Beaconsfield in Hertfordshire, Thomson Habitats installed 3k of semi-permanent reptile fencing.
This was to facilitate the trapping and translocation of reptiles and great crested newts out of the development site and into habitat created by us adjacent to a pond in a neighbouring golf club.
We installed pitfall buckets every 10m along the fence-line, as well as felt refugia which were dotted across the area.
Tree Protection Orders were in place on site; this meant we needed to be extremely careful when breaking ground to ensure root systems were not damaged and the trees were not affected. It was decided that we would hand dig along the root protection zones to locate any roots and adapt the fencing as required to ensure potential damage was minimised.
We carried out the work quickly and efficiently to ensure there was enough time for trapping to occur before the end of October as stipulated by Natural England.
