Hedgehogs and new homes

The UK Government has a target of 300,000 new homes to be built each year. There are many concerns surrounding the surge in such projects, not least of which is the wildlife that will be destroyed in the process. Ecologists are employed to make sure that those species protected by law will be monitored and removed if necessary, but the hedgehog currently has a lower status than animals such as bats and dormice, so is not required to be considered.

In July 2019, thanks to the pressure of a change.org petition, the National Planning Policy Framework was changed to include guidance on hedgehog highways – holes built into fencing. Unfortunately, there are no ‘teeth’ to enforce this yet. But pressure from the now nearly one million signatories to the petition has led to a number of developers adopting hedgehog highways without a change in the law.

Bovis Homes, part of Vistry Group, was the first major housebuilder to start its own hedgehog highway initiative. In January 2020, it committed to putting hedgehog holes in fences at its current and new locations, where possible. Other developers have since started to come on board. The hope is that it will become ‘normal’ for developers to help hedgehogs in this way. Of course, putting in a hole is no guarantee. A new homeowner might not be interested. To combat that, a ‘top tips’ leaflet is included in the welcome pack. The conversations that have been started around hedgehog holes have also led to discussions around the management of the public open spaces built into new estates. This is yet more land that, if managed sensitively, can become valuable for hedgehogs.