Great Western Coffee Shop

Great crested newts are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the habitats regulations. Before work that will affect great crested newts can take place at a site, developers must gain a licence from the Welsh Assembly Government which involves surveys and a suitable mitigation strategy for the newts being agreed.

Whether it is wild orchids, reptiles or giant eels, all have been given new homes thanks to Network Rail following the start of its works on behalf of Crossrail in the Stockley Junction area in West London.

Before work began on the Stockley Interchange in late March, which will allow Crossrail services to operate to and from Heathrow Airport, ecological surveys had identified locations of protected and invasive fauna. An initial relocation of reptiles and amphibians took place in advance of the construction works to avoid delays to the project.

Then, as construction began, the rescue operation really kicked into gear as Network Rail, together with contractor Carillion, aquatic consultants and the Environment Agency, cleared and lowered nearby Anderson Pond. It was then electro-fished, a technique which temporarily stuns fish, allowing them to be surveyed and returned to the water unharmed.

A total of 599 fish were safely caught and relocated to a new home. Species found included tench, roach, rudd and bream, all of which were held in an aerated tank to recover before their relocation to Pondwood Fisheries near Maidenhead.

The real catch of the day, however, was a European eel, which is a critically endangered species. It weighed an exceptional 5lbs and came in at 3ft long. It takes about 10 years for an eel to put on a pound so this one could be 50 years old.

Meanwhile, 30 wild orchids were saved and relocated to similar habitat at Maple Lodge Nature Reserve.

Courtesy of the Maple Lodge Conservation Society, Network Rail moved the plants to their new home in Hertfordshire where they can be protected but also enjoyed by the public.

All this good work was preceded by relocating 46 protected slow-worms, 593 newts and five frogs from the Stockley area to new homes in August last year, following consultation with the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Michaela Payne, environment specialist at Network Rail, said: ^Our Network Rail Crossrail Programme has set a target of no net loss for biodiversity. To this end the work we have done at Stockley will ensure that the biodiversity in the local area is protected and enhanced for the community. Delivering these works will have a lasting legacy of both improvements to the railway infrastructure and enhancements to the natural environment.

^This underlines the commitment that the project team has made to the delivery of sustainable development.^

(http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=5707&SizeId=3)  (http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=5706&SizeId=3)  (http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=5705&SizeId=3)

About Crossrail

Crossrail will run 73 miles from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 13-mile tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It will bring an additional 1.5m people within 45 minutes commuting distance of London's key business districts. When it opens from 2018, Crossrail will provide new transport links with the Tube, Thameslink, National Rail, DLR and London Overground.

Network Rail delivering Crossrail

Network Rail is a key partner in Crossrail and is making significant investment in upgrading the network around the Capital to deliver it. This complements Network Rail^s other work to increase capacity and improve performance across Britain.

Network Rail is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of Crossrail that are on the existing network. Its work will integrate Crossrail with the national rail network, delivering faster, more frequent trains into central London from the east and west. The work includes upgrading 43 miles of track, redeveloping 27 stations, and renewing more than 20 bridges.

Network Rail will do all of this on an active operational railway, delivering vital upgrade works whilst minimising disruption to train services.

Further information on Network Rail^s contract schedules is available here (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/6308.aspx).

Stockley Interchange

The Stockley interchange is a crucial part of the Crossrail network that will allow Crossrail trains to join the branch to Heathrow without delaying - or being delayed by - fast trains to the west, thus increasing capacity and reliability on the extremely busy Great Western main line. The current junction at Stockley allows trains to leave the main line and continue to Heathrow Airport. Network Rail, on behalf of Crossrail Limited, will build a new single track viaduct for all trains from Heathrow towards London. Works are due to complete in 2017. Existing train services to Heathrow will continue to run throughout.

...593 newts...

One great crested newt halts work on ^14m Durham Police HQ

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Great crested newts are protected by law

Work on a new ^14m headquarters for Durham Police has been halted after a protected species of newt was found close to the construction site.

Construction has been unable to take place since a single great crested newt was spotted in October, with delays estimated to have cost about ^250,000.

Natural England said it hoped to allow work to continue soon.

Durham Police said it was working with Natural England to resolve the issue "as quickly as possible".

The great crested newt is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and permission for their removal must be granted by Natural England.

Planning permission was granted for the new headquarters in June and was scheduled to be completed by spring 2014.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "We're trying our best to get this resolved as quickly as possible, but unfortunately we're in the hands of a statutory agency."

A Natural England spokesman said: "We are treating this case as the highest priority. We are working flat-out to process the licence application and hope to complete this in the next few days."

So the protection is working then, which is great newts  ;)

Ok, OK back to my day job....

I bet countries around the world laugh at us that we will stop major building projects because some tiny reptiles have been found. I've nothing against newts but we really do need to get our priorities right.

You are quite correct. I for one do not wish to see the end of the newts. Timmer, they are not reptiles but amphibians, which should see me banished to the pedants' corner. We criticise other countries for not looking after their tigers / pandas / heffalumps etc, and it would get decidedly chilly on the moral high ground if we did not cherish our own fauna, just because it isn't as big or cuddly.

Unless the said great crested ones have only just moved in (in which case they should have realised what was coming and can hardly complain now) then I am surprised no-one spotted them long ago, when the work was first being "planned". It is, however, handy to have something like newts to blame any delay on, and the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Network Rail doesn't have a secret breeding programme. When things start to go bosoms skywards, a man slips in under cover of hi-vis orange and dumps a couple in a convenient puddle, then runs to the press and the nature conservation peeps saying "Oh, what a bloody newtsance! Shovels down, lads, put the kettle on."

<Snip>

I think that in fact there might be two different secret breeding programmes for rare newts.
One run by network rail as described above, and a SECOND scheme run by local NIMBYs in order to delay and obstruct the work.
Or one scheme might involve rare butterflies, moths, or bats !

There are also similar breeding programmes for snails. Anyone who lived near the proposed site for the A34 bypass in Newbury may recall how these very rare snails suddenly appeared out of nowhere (about the same time Swampy shot to fame in the Berkshire area but any connection between the two events is in the readers mind!)

This surely gives the undisputed name for the fist Hitachi IEP Unit:

"Gussie Finknottle"

OTC

Why the great crested newt may no longer be disturbed

A government consultation on whether to change the rules governing how contractors deal with protected species when developing sites ends this week. The focus is on the great crested newt, a species classified as endangered under European law.

Natural England, the government body in charge of protecting Britain's wildlife, is putting forward proposals that would make the current licensing system ''more flexible and strategic.''

It would mean that councils and developers no longer have to move individual great crested newts as long as they protect the biggest colonies and most important habitats.