One Last Push - Newt Fencing Frenzy

One Last Push – Newt Fencing Frenzy The season for newt fencing is nearly up and for many of our clients the ecological clock is ticking. The end of september traditionally marks the deadline for many ecological mitigation projects, and as such we see a huge influx of last minute enquiires from clients who just can’t afford to miss this window. So where has the Three Shires team been over the last 60 days?Yorkshire – Three Shires has had two major projects running in Yorkshire; for Carillion Morgan Est JV work continues on the A1 Barton to Dishforth Widening Project – the final stages of 2009 have included the installation of over 2000 metres of Herpetosure newt fencing, the extraction of 1000 metres of drift fencing and various site clearnance operations – this final tranche of works takes our running fencing total of 6000 metres on the B2D scheme. The second of our Yorkshire projects took place at Ulley Reservoir in Rotherham for the Ringway Group (in conjunction with consultants ARUP). Three Shires were asked to design and build the UK’s first water based snake barrier, as well install over 600 metres of Herpetosure snake fencing. The TSL team came up with a floating boom and net system, over 200 metres in length to run acorss the full width of the reservoir. This prevented snakes from accessing the construction site, whilst also allowing for water level changes of over 5 metres. Nottinghamshire – Again TSL has been covering two major projects in Notts; On the M1 widening between junction 25 and 28 the team has been installing Highways Sector Scheme 2A fencing totalling 16 kilometres. In order to assist with MVM’s tight time schedule Three Shires has put in place a dedicated 20 man team to help move the project forward. Again working on Nottinghamshire’s roads, TSL has been installing Herpetosure newt fencing on the A46. Earlier in the year Three Shires fenced the site with timber and plastic newt fencing, however the projects main contractor Balfour Beatty have decided to replace this fencing with Herpetosure to save money in the long term. Lincolnshire – Following on from our woodland planting works in March for Woodland Estates in Lincs, Three Shires has recently carried out a large fencing installation around WE holding in Woodhall Spa. Rutland – One of this seasons larger ecological fencing projects has just been completed at the famous Rutland Water, near Oakham. This project saw the installation of 7000 metres of Herpetosure newt fencing and 1000 pitfall traps in less than 5 days. Ours works will make way for our the large scale lagoon habitat creation project being undertaken by Carillion for clients Anglian Water. Three Shires North West – Last week saw the completion of extensive clearance works between junctions 26 and 27 of the M6 for area operator A1+. This clearance made way nearly 2000 metres of Herpetosure newt fencing installed just 4 metres away from the hard shoulder. The project also involved the construction of several Hibernacula and habitat log piles. Three Shires NW have also recently completed another ecological project for Birse at Bickershaw, near Wigan; here TSNW installed 1200 metres of Herpetosure newt fencing with further habitat planting and destructive searches schuduled to start in the coming weeks. Up and Coming – This week Three Shires North West are making final preparations before commencing the large scale landscaping project at Caldy Nature Park in Chester. Three Shires Ltd has been awarded the £60K+ project by Chester West and Chester Council which involves; pond dredging, weir creation, foot bridge and footpath creation, pontoon installation, biodiversity enhancement, Safa grass installation and various clearance works. The project may also involve the creation of a new play area close to the park.

For more information on One Last Push - Newt Fencing Frenzy talk to Three Shires Ltd