Boris Johnson able to construct ‘newt motels’ as wildlife threatens swimming pool plans
B
oris Johnson has pledged to “do whatever it takes” to guard newts which can scupper his plans to construct an outside swimming pool at his Oxfordshire nation manor.
The former prime minister stated if wanted he may create “newt motels” or a haven, dubbed “Newtopia,” on the Grade II-listed Brightwell Manor he shares with spouse Carrie and their three younger youngsters.
His planning software for the pool was met with a holding objection, elevating issues that the native inhabitants of nice crested newts (GCN) may very well be threatened by the development.
It comes after Mr Johnson in 2020 blamed “newt-counting” pink tape within the UK’s planning system for delays in nationwide housebuilding.
A planning software was lodged in June with South Oxfordshire District Council for the set up of a brand new 11-by-four-metre swimming pool on the grounds of the ex-premier’s dwelling.
In his Daily Mail column, Mr Johnson wrote: “If it turns out that our garden is so honoured and so fortunate as to be the home of some newts — great crested, palmate, whatever — I want you to know that I will do whatever it takes to protect them.
“If we have to build little newt motels to house them in their trips past the swimming pool, then we will. If we have to create whole newt-friendly bunds to stop them falling in, we will.
“We will excavate new ponds in which they can breed. We will make a Newtopia!”
The South and Vale countryside officer final month filed a holding objection, protesting that the uncommon amphibians may very well be “impacted by the proposed development”.
In his report which acknowledged that planning permission mustn’t “currently” be granted, native authorities ecologist Edward Church wrote: “There are known populations of great crested newts … in the east of the village.
“Mapping shows that there is a pond onsite and a moat immediately adjacent to the southern boundary, both well within 250 metres of the position of the proposed pool.
“The proposed development falls within the red zone of highest risk to GCN.”
Mr Johnson stated that in line with one of many “amazingly expensive but worth every penny” ecology reviews he has acquired, “there are certainly bodies of water nearby that could be hospitable to newts”.
He added: “There is a chance that these creatures could be interrupted in their peregrinations, when they leave their watery lairs, by an unexpected new hole in the lawn.”
He additionally wrote: “I am told that something that could be the spoor of the newt has been found, but we await DNA testing from the lab — and so, inevitably, I am warned that there may be delays, and there may be costs.”
Great crested newts, that are black with noticed flanks and an orange stomach, are protected below UK and European wildlife legislation.
Their numbers are in decline, with habitat loss being their greatest risk.
As prime minister, Mr Johnson stated in a speech about rebooting the economic system three years in the past that “newt-counting delays in our system are a massive drag” on productiveness within the UK.