Bude Park plans held up by newts
COUNCIL TO SPEND £350K ON FACELIFT PROJECT
A £350,000 council-funded scheme to improve a popular playing fields site in Hull is being held up by great crested newts.
A colony of the amphibians was last recorded at Bude Park in Bransholme eight years ago.
But a new environmental survey on the site says the continued presence of the newts needs to be confirmed before work can start on a major facelift for the site.
As an endangered species, they enjoy strict protections under planning laws, which make it an offence to disturb them or destroy their habitat.
A colony of great crested newts had to be rehoused before the
KCOM Stadium
2002.
The construction of Archbishop Sentamu Academy in east Hull was also held up by the discovery of great crested newts on the site.
Whether their Bransholme relatives require moving to a new habitat will depend on a further investigation of the site off Bude Road.
Should they be found, the colony will be relocated to a new enhanced wetland area being created as part of the scheme.
Confirmation of their presence and any plans to move them is also needed to satisfy the requirements of a bid to the Football Foundation for match funding towards the project.
Garry
Taylor, could be the built in council’s director for major projects, said it meant that funding bid was now likely to be considered in July rather than April.
Councillor Christine Randall, who represents the area, said: “There are plenty of places for the newts on this site already. I am sure they are already on the area that is being re-wilded.”
It had been hoped to start work on the site in August or September, but that timetable could now be pushed back.
The facelift work is expected to see the creation of three senior-sized football pitches, two smaller grass pitches and a number of multigames pitches together with new changing and parking facilities and new drainage systems.
Local amateur club
Kingswood
United currently run 21 league teams for children, aged six to 13, as well as a Saturday morning soccer school and regular training sessions at the park.
Councillor Phil Webster, cabinet member for finance, said: “Considering they are so rare, great crested newts seem to be on every site in Hull.
“However, Bude Park is hugely important right across the area and one of the problems we have had there is travellers, so once we get playing pitches on that site and it isn’t flooding as much, I think it is going to become even more attractive to travellers.
“Because of that, it’s important that things are put in place to stop them getting on because it seems things like boulders and shark’s teeth fencing mean nothing to them now.
“They either roll them out of the way or pull them out of the ground so we need to come up with something like a new transitional site for travellers so we don’t have this problem.”