120 slow worms moved to make way for houses

March 2010. More than 100 slow worms and other wildlife has been relocated as part of work to build a £5.2million housing development in a Bristol village.

The Jephson Housing Association is building 32 new homes at a disused allotment site in Myrtle Drive, Shirehampton, after receiving a £1.9 million grant from the Homes and Communities Agency. Ecological surveys of the site revealed it supported protected species including slow worms, which are a type of legless lizard, plus a range of breeding birds, foraging badgers and bats so Jephson began efforts to minimise the environmental impact of the work.

Wildlife buffer habitat
The Association called in Bristol-based firm The Landmark Practice, one of the UK's leading environmental planning and design companies, and they helped to create a wildlife buffer habitat. It was enhanced by improving the existing hedgerows and planting native trees, scrub and wildflower areas, around the perimeter of the construction area.

Senior ecologist with the Landmark Practice Jo Donnelly said: "After relocating the slow worms out of the construction site, reptile-proof fencing was installed around the perimeter of the construction area to prevent them returning. In all, 122 slow worms were relocated to a suitable habitat, including adjacent allotments and nearby Lamplighter's Marsh."

Habitat improvements for the reptiles included the creation of rough grassland areas within the buffer habitat and scrub management within the marsh.