WILDLIFE PLEA AS HUGE NEW HOUSING ESTATE AT TOLLBAR GETS PLANNING GREEN LIGHT

                                                                 

How the estate might look - the Barratts site at Manor Farm, Lincoln

HOUSEBUILDER Barratt could start work next year on its ambitious scheme to build a huge new housing estate on land opposite the Tollbar Academy.

The company, which also trades as David Wilson,  has been told this week that, after months spent at the drawing board, its plan for 239 new homes off Louth Road, New Waltham, has effectively been rubber-stamped by North East Lincolnshire Council.

It has been a long journey - not helped by the lengthy controversy over the proposal to replace a roundabout with traffic lights.

Included within the development will be a corner shop.

Because of the potentially adverse impact on birds, bats and other wildlife as a consequence of habitat loss, NELC's ecology officer, Rachel Graham, has come up with mitigating proposals.

Says she: "The open space areas should include wildflower areas to extend the habitat corridor, increase biodiversity, and create buffer zones. 

"Flowering lawn mixes should be used where possible. 

"There should be a hedgerow wildflower buffer strip between boundary hedgerows and any amenity grassland, with appropriate management.

"The green space needs to function as a connected habitat, given the design layout, which provides an ideal opportunity to achieve this. 

"Bird boxes to suit different species, such as sparrows, swifts, should be installed and, again, integrated bird box bricks should be used as they provide longevity and therefore sustainability."

Barratts have a better record than most large housebuilders in safeguarding and creating wildlife habitat, so there is a fair chance that some of these measures will be adopted.

A consultation exercise with the public is due to be announced in the New Year.