New water vole mitigation guidelines are out for the UK’s fastest declining mammal. The guidelines provide details of appropriate survey methods and effort to inform planning decisions, which developers will find useful to know. But perhaps the most significant impact may be the new requirement for the displacement of water voles to be a licensed activity.
Displacement was a previously established technique which essentially involved removal of vegetation around burrows to encourage water voles to leave. Natural England now consider that removal of vegetation specifically to encourage water voles to leave constitutes unlawful disturbance. JFA will continue to review this document and new process and will provide a more detailed summary of what this means for our Clients in due course, watch this space.
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