RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted May 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 21, 2017 I find it hard to believe that newts are an endangered species - they seem to turn up all over the country whenever there's a planning dispute! There is some evidence of that. I'm not sure of the source but the story that I've heard is that the preservation order (or whatever it's called) is part of a pan European treaty that deal with various endangered species. The newt is endangered in some countries but no proper survey was ever done as to how many newts there were in the UK. The theory is that they are actually far more widespread than we thought and thus keep getting discovered when proper surveys are done in advance of a new development. They even found them in the quarry at Helwith Bridge when the new siding was put in recently. As I say I can't quote the source. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted May 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 21, 2017 It is a particular sub species of newt "Great Crested Newt" that is protected. They don't stop development but you have to provide an alternative habitat for them. I'm a developer and even I understand we must protect what we have as when lost we can't get it back. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted May 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 21, 2017 It is a particular sub species of newt "Great Crested Newt" that is protected. They don't stop development but you have to provide an alternative habitat for them. I'm a developer and even I understand we must protect what we have as when lost we can't get it back. I agree totally that that particular Newt should be protected if it is in fact endangered. However I believe that this has never been an accurate countrywide survey to see whether or not tit needs protecting. For a species that was endangered it does seem to turn up in all sorts of places. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted May 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 21, 2017 I agree totally that that particular Newt should be protected if it is in fact endangered. However I believe that this has never been an accurate countrywide survey to see whether or not tit needs protecting. For a species that was endangered it does seem to turn up in all sorts of places. Jamie It may not be how often and where they're found, but more how many. If the numbers are very low a hard winter could see off a big enough proportion of them to make it too hard to recover. I'm sure I have seen a study that explained the reasoning behind their protection and it made sense, but can't remember where? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 I find it hard to believe that newts are an endangered species - they seem to turn up all over the country whenever there's a planning dispute! They must all be members of the Green Party then, no wonder they are an endangered species I somehow don't think much life will be found in Werrington Brook and less so in the drain to the west of the Midland Lines which is due to be re-allocated further to the west. That drain is quite stagnant throughout the year with bullrushes the only visible living thing, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted May 21, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) I've been doing a bit of googling and it appears that they are protected because they appear on a pan European schedule that is enforced in this country by a British Act. There are definite moves afoot to water down (no pun intended) the level of protection and it seems that this may be connected with Brexit as apparently the Construction Industry are quoting it as one of the examples of European legislation that is costing the UK. I will be interested to see how this pans out. I'm not trying to make a political point or to argue the politics of it but with a science background and an interest in railways I will, as they say, watch this space. I also found out some facts that I will probably never use again such as that a male Great Crested Newt needs a cubic meter of water to complete it's mating cycle. The mind boggles. Jamie Edited May 22, 2017 by jamie92208 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 I've been doing a bit of googling and it appears that they are protected because they appear on a pan European schedule that is enforced in this country by a British Act. There are definite moves afoot to water down (no pun intended) the level of protection and it seems that this may be connected with Brexit as apparently the Construction Industry are quoting it as one of the examples of European legislation that is costing the UK. I will be interested to see how this pans out. I'm not trying to make a political point or to argue the politics of it but with a science background and an interest in railways I will, as they say, watch this space. I also found out some facts that I will probably never use again such as that a male Great Crested Newt needs a cubic meter of water to complete it's mating cycle. The mind boggles. Jamie They are not protected because of a European Directive. They were protected in the UK since the 1950's, under the Countryside and Wildlife Act, which replaced the 1902 Protection of Wild Birds Act. The EU Directive(s) give(s) greater protection in all aspects of their management, but is based on national estimates of endangered species. One aspect now mandatory is to undertake an assessment of the current populations of endangered species. DEFRA do not do this, but sponsor others to do it, including Natural England. The latest estimate of the English population is 75,000, but there is a lot of uncertainty over the reliability of the counts. Northern Crested (commonly Great Crested) newts are one of THE most endangered species in the UK. Their population has declined markedly in the last 50 years due to loss of habitat due to development and intensive argiculture. The Cameron government asked Natural England to come up with ways to reduce the cost and time penalties to developers in dealing with this issue and in 2015, they did so, implementing trials with housing developers. Do not confuse the myth of these animals turning up at every development, with reality. I have dealt with these so-called impediments to development on many of the rail projects I managed, from being PM to eventually Sponsor. Developers talk absolute codswallop. You expect to deal with this at an early stage, when attempting to use any wild area with significant wet zones. You plan for it accordingly and bring in specialists who produce an impact assessment at an early stage, which indicates the actions needed, usually season-related. That becomes a critical path in your project plan. The costs of re-location and creation of new habitat (not usually necessary) are usually minimal, as a 100% capture rate is not expected, but a mitigation against the newts attempting to return to their old breeding ground, is key. The wide boys who dominate the debate should not be confused with the vast majority of professionals who know what they have to do. On about 40 projects I have managed or sponsored, I have had to deal with this just 7 times (IIRC). Fenland is pretty popular with newts, although highly intensified agricultural methods, particularly including the diversion and sanitation of "dyke" irrigation, has clobbered them a lot. Thus, with Werrington, if NR have not already seen this one coming, I would be more surprised than any of you. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I've not heard anything about the Werrington Junction work for a while, where is it up to on the GRIP now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 4630 Posted November 1, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) This is on the Network Rail website: Due to the objections and representations received, the Transport and Works Act Order Unit has called for a Public Inquiry into the Werrington Grade Separation project. This is scheduled to start on Tuesday 21 November and will last up to three weeks, although this is subject to change. The inquiry will be held at Peterborough Football Club. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/lne-and-em/east-coast-mainline-route-upgrade/werrington-grade-separation/ I guess the above means that it's at GRIP 4. Edited November 1, 2017 by 4630 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Just another snippet from the local Werrington rag. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Interesting. This Bill Mercer comes up a number of times in things past. He actually lives over 500 yards from the line, about 10-12 roads and a park away, and closer to the very busy A15. Strange. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
62613 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Interesting. This Bill Mercer comes up a number of times in things past. He actually lives over 500 yards from the line, about 10-12 roads and a park away, and closer to the very busy A15. Strange. In recent issues of Backtrack, there has been a series of articles by someone called Edward Gibbins detailing the proceedures undertaken to close various railway lines in the late 1950s/early 1960s. He details some of the objections to closure, and quite frankly, some were ludicrous, almost as ludicrous as a guy living closer to a noisy road than to a railway objecting to greater noise from the latter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Interesting. This Bill Mercer comes up a number of times in things past. He actually lives over 500 yards from the line, about 10-12 roads and a park away, and closer to the very busy A15. Strange. I guess he's just another local fame seeker. North Werrington Railway Action Group, now that may sound impressive to someone, but I live right opposite and certainly less than 500 yards away and I had never heard of this action group until I spotted the piece in the local rag. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I guess he's just another local fame seeker. North Werrington Railway Action Group, now that may sound impressive to someone, but I live right opposite and certainly less than 500 yards away and I had never heard of this action group until I spotted the piece in the local rag. If you can claim to be part of a group and give it a name it tends to give you more credibility however the number of people in this group is never revealed! Mark Saunders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted December 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2017 I've just done a bit of googling and the group doesn't appear to have a web presence but is mentioned on facebook in a post regarding the submission of evidence to the enquiry by the local council. There is also another post from one resident saying that he didn't appreciate how many trains there were when he bought his house in 2015. He blamed the seller. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Richard E Posted December 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2017 My ex lives in the area and has never complained about the trains despite being that way inclined. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 My ex lives in the area and has never complained about the trains despite being that way inclined. When the wind is in a North to North Easterly direction the roar of traffic from the Glinton roundabout to the beginning of the Paston Parkway is far more noticeable than any trains. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Richard E Posted December 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2017 The Werrington Inquiry started on 21st November and lasted for three days as opposed to the expected three weeks. It was adjourned on 24th November with all submitted evidence having been heard and will close finally on 15th December with a decision announced next year (we hope). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Richard E Posted December 5, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2017 I guess he's just another local fame seeker. North Werrington Railway Action Group, now that may sound impressive to someone, but I live right opposite and certainly less than 500 yards away and I had never heard of this action group until I spotted the piece in the local rag. Bill Mercer is a member of the Spalding and Peterborough Transport Group and is/was also a Neighbourhood Councillor for Werrington. The latter is a community group formed in the 1930's but which has never attained formal parish council status, the former a group formed to complain about the GNGE railway upgrade. According to them, 'thousands' of people are being disturbed on a daily basis as the line is now carrying more traffic than was originally intended! Apologies for the multiple posts by the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Bill Mercer is a member of the Spalding and Peterborough Transport Group and is/was also a Neighbourhood Councillor for Werrington. The latter is a community group formed in the 1930's but which has never attained formal parish council status, the former a group formed to complain about the GNGE railway upgrade. According to them, 'thousands' of people are being disturbed on a daily basis as the line is now carrying more traffic than was originally intended! Apologies for the multiple posts by the way. What a load of rubbish these people sprout. I've been here, when Werrington was a village, before any new development had ever taken place. The problem is not the railway but the nimby snowflakes. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 The Werrington Inquiry started on 21st November and lasted for three days as opposed to the expected three weeks. It was adjourned on 24th November with all submitted evidence having been heard and will close finally on 15th December with a decision announced next year (we hope). Thanks for the update Richard. I had not realised the snippet I posted was old news even though I did read it twice. I just hadn't realised that we are now into December! It's what happens as the brain cells get older. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I would have thought that there would be more noise from the A15 / Lincoln Road than from the railway as the road is almost always busy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Network Rail proposal video here https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/lne-and-em/east-coast-mainline-route-upgrade/werrington-grade-separation/ Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donington Road Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Latest updates from the Werrington Spotlight. Good to see the insects and creepy-crawlies will be getting a new home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shed Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 so the houses on Hurn Lane by the crossing are going? or just the ones by the dual carriageway? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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