BRIGG LANDOWNERS BEING ASKED TO HELP PROVIDE NEW HOMES FOR AMPHIBIANS

Farmers and other landowners in the Brigg area may be in a position to provide new homes for a protected species of amphibians once common in the district.
North Lincolnshire Council says a charity is looking for local landowners interested in having a fully-funded wildlife pond on their land.
This forms part of a Natural England scheme designed to protect the rare great crested newt.
The council is carrying out a survey to see if any of its own land is suitable for pond creation, and is urging other landowners and farmers to do the same.
The programme also includes neglected ponds that can be restored.
The ponds will be created by environmental consultancy Wildscapes CIC, which will carry out all the creation or restoration work, as well as maintenance and monitoring over 25 years.
The work is fully funded by Natural England and landowners are only required to provide basic maintenance to keep ponds healthy.
The ponds have to be a minimum size of 150 square metres and are best suited to an area of land that is clay-based, floods regularly or already naturally holds water. The Brigg area has plenty of these.
The great crested newt is England’s most strictly protected amphibian, and needs clean ponds in which to breed.
Once a suitable pond is created, newts colonise it naturally.
Steven Greenwood, Conservation Contracts Manager for Wildscapes, said: “During the 20th century, half of the UK’s ponds were lost and this has led to the serious decline of the great crested newt population.
“This scheme is designed to support the development process to create more habitats and to secure the long-term protection of this important, protected species.”
The scheme is already running successfully in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and Wildscapes CIC has recently created its 50th pond.
Landowners are urged to contact Wildscapes by emailing info@wildscapes.co.uk or by calling 0114 303 5123 to see if they have suitable land.
Back in the 1960s, we recall Brigg having many newts living near the River Ancholme and also on wetland some distance from the water course, known by kids living on the Springbank housing estate as The Swamp.
Picture above courtesy of North Lincolnshire Council.