We are told a Planning Application for a housing development on The Glebe is imminent but who is undertaking the ecological and environmental studies that such applications must include?
We’ve not seen any specialist firms in The Glebe, nor signs of anorak-wearing scientists gathering the required data on amphibians, reptiles, bats and badgers. Specialist firms undertake this work and we are just coming to the end of the survey season, particularly for amphibians and reptiles.
There appear to have been no sightings of people doing the work. One tell-tale sign is the appearance of small squares of roofing felt or plywood spread about the fields. These are to monitor the presence of reptiles, particularly slow worms which are common in this area.
We’ve been undertaking our own surveys and in no short time found plenty of evidence of native species – not least this lovely slow worm wandering across one of the footpaths.
Keep us posted if you see any surveyors in The Glebe Fields. But remember sometimes paid consultants are not averse to structuring reports to meet their clients objectives!
