Council seeks newt law change after road budget blowout

Contractor headaches caused by the presence of great-crested newts on sites could soon be eased after one council – which blew nearly 10% of its road scheme budget on a colony of amphibians that failed to materialise – wrote to the government calling for a change in policy.

Leicestershire County Council is believed to have spent around £1.2m putting up newt fencing - as dictated by law - after early investigations showed the presence of newt ponds along the route of the 5km, £15km Earl Shilton bypass currently being built by Carillion.

However, more recent investigations, which have delayed work on the middle section of the route, show there are no signs of any newts.

The news has infuriated the council, whose leader David Parsons has now written to the government, calling for a “more reasonable view” to be taken on laws protecting newts during road construction.

Under EU laws and the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is illegal to capture or kill great-crested newts or disturb their habitat.

A council spokesman told CJ: “The fencing has obviously worked in keeping any newts off the site. However, we are now left with a bill which we will have to try and claw back from the Department for Transport.”

The spokesman said that the scheme “should” be open by its scheduled completion date of winter 2008/09, despite the earlier delays.