SHEQWs Newsletter August

In the spotlight
Ecologists go surveying for Great Crested Newts
SMB ecologists Gareth
Lavery and David
Macknay have been
especially busy over the
spring survey window
undertaking newt surveys
in potential breeding
ponds and ditches, in
order to inform design
and/ or apply for a licence
on various projects.
Results of this year’s
surveys: locations with GCN
presence
• D339 Newbury STW
• D339 Carterton STW
• D339 Moreton-in-Marsh STW
• C946 Faringdon to Blunsdon
pipeline
• D018 Goose Green
• D332 Stewkley STW.
How to identify the
presence of Great Crested
Newts (GCN)
Four surveys are required to
determine the absence of GCN, with
at least 3 of the 4 survey methods
being utilised. These are;
• Bottle Trap - placing traps in the
pond and leaving overnight
• Torching – searching for GCN at
night via torchlight
• Egg Search – searching leaves for
signs of eggs
• Netting – net used to search
perimeter of pond
If whilst undertaking these four
surveys GCN are discovered, the
survey number increase to six, in
order to get a population count. This
is normally 6 bottle tap and torch
surveys.
New Technology - EDNA
eDNA water samples identifies GCN
DNA. This year 73 eDNA kits were
used on 22 upcoming project sites.
The benefits of this new
technique are:
Major cost reduction over the AMP
(estimated at c. £500,000)
Reduced health and safety risk to
personnel as less night-time work in,
and next to, water
Early identification which helps
reduce programme delays,
aid Project Managers and helps
understand potential impact on
VOWD (Value of Work Delivered)
What happens if GCN
presence is confirmed?
If identified during design, the
environmental team will work with
the design team to attempt to
“design out” the issue by locating
new works to avoid their habitat
(scrub, established grassland,
woodland edge etc.)
If Ops identify GCN onsite, the
ecologist will undertake a visit
to determine this. For example,
at Chesham STW, Ops identified
GCN, but after a visit, our ecologist
identified these as non-protected
smooth newts.
On Thames Valley Mains Rehab Year
2, SMB have the luxury of dropping
schemes that have confirmed or
Page 8 | August 2016 SHEWQ Newsletter
SHEWQ Newsletter
August 2016 | Page 9