Habitat Creation – Amphibian Translocation

Client: Hickman Bros (contractors)

Project: SINC at Popley Fields, Basingstoke

Date: May 2007

Size: 6,000m²

As a result of a Protected Species Management Plan, a large area, which was already a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) needed to be re-created for Great Crested Newts at Popley Ponds, Basingstoke, before redevelopment of the adjacent land for new homes by Wilson Homes.

Part of the plan included 6,000m² of wildflower meadow, with a dispersal corridor between the ponds and the meadow as Newts require suitable terrestrial habitat for most of the year.

The Principal Ecologist therefore, requested specific native wildflowers and grasses to be included in the seed mix as these were compatible with the habitat required for the Great Created Newts. As it turned out the bulk of these are already grown in our Wildflower landscape Turf.