The badgers safety has become a criminal issue as CEC and employees fail to take action and the Police investigate a wildlife crime? Below is details of the complaint to the council and there response the writing in red is my response to CEC s response. Several Badger groups have provided advice and shared there knowledge on the matter
I wish to take this to the next level before referring it to the Ombudsman. The case is a very serious one as I believe its a criminal offence that has been committed and may be committed again if actions isnt taken. The Police have taken statement and evidence and a criminal prosecution may follow if work continues without a survey and any required licences more crime may take place
The path went through planning without ecological survey and knowing the diverse wildlife in the park it should have never passed planning without the survey.
Whoever did the planning application failed to get a survey
They were advised on 23rd November about badgers and its recorded http://www.queensparkcrewe.com/2015/11/paths-are-under-way.html.
The environmental officer was told again in January and its recorded http://www.queensparkcrewe.com/2016/01/have-cec-illegally-killed-badgers.html
A unqualified person then checked he proved he is unqualified as he thought it was rabbits. He took no action and didn't order a survey or stop work in the area.
The environmental officer was informed last week that a criminal act was taking place and he took no action to immediately stop it.
The contactors were also informed and refused to take action.
George Broughton was told and could have taken action but didnt instead of ringing and stopping work he took his time coming to the park.
Having established there were badgers active no one ordered a survey or took any action to ensure their safety or tried to obtain a licence as is required.
Work is going on in other areas and more criminal acts may take place if a survey isnt taken and worked stopped until its declared safe.
The Police are investigating it as a criminal wildlife crime.
I believe this shows gross mismanagement and needs investigating at the highest level 5 badger groups have looked at this and all believe its a criminal offence
CEC response to original complaint my comments in red provide information is from badger groups
Starting on site in November 2015, a long awaited project is being delivered to renew the pathways around Queens Park. This is one of the final elements of the whole park restoration that the council have been working on in partnership with our Friends Group. The plans received both Planning Consent and Listed Building Consent. At the time of the project planning, badgers were not known to be present in the park. There were plenty of visible animal excavations but this was thought to be by rabbits. The first indication that badgers might be present was reported on 1st February 2016. On immediate inspection there was no evidence observed of Badger activity.
This is total incompetence first badger have been in the park for years and all staff know about them pity management dont. Rabbit and badger hole are totally different so again its something they should know. Have been advised they should then have called and ecologist to check if you think a sett is unused you have to prove it normally by using cameras over a 3 week period. If badgers are present then a ecological survey needs to be done and planning shouldnt have pasted it until its done. They would have then had to apply for a licence which wouldnt be issued as its breeding season
Following a further report by a member of the Friends of Queens Park, the site was revisited on 14th March 2016. This time evidence was found of badger activity in the vicinity of our path works. There was a marked change in the scale of the diggings in two holes; one was obviously more active than the other. This time signs were very different observing badger paw prints and found badger hair making this pretty conclusive evidence. This evidence was not apparent when visiting the same location six weeks ago.
It wasnt reported by the friend it was reported by myself to the environmental office Mr Bagley who failed to visit the site and take appropriate action
However, whilst there has been some path work close to the sett, there has been no path associated excavation activity near the holes under the shrubbery where these holes are located. The holes are located at the base of large Holly trees within the shrubbery, the entrances being directly under the roots of the trees into the higher part of the bank on the park perimetre.
A badger sett can be 310 meters long so using heavy machinery in the area could collapse the sett in the breading season.
The path works undertaken are not impacting the shrubbery. The path construction works entailed the old path surface being scraped in preparation for relaying. This was on the surface but not impacting below the existing ground level. The level of the new path was being raised up from that existing base ready for a new more DDA compliant path being laid out over the top. The construction contractors stockpiled the sub-soil / clay required for the reprofiling work in the vicinity of the shrubbery edge but did not cover the entrance of these holes which are behind the shrubs. This sub-soil has now been removed and used under the new path, the new path edges have been tidied up using topsoil which has been hand raked into position and has now been seeded with grass-seed to the edge of the shrubbery.
So they admit they dumped tons of hard clay using a heavy dump truck which actually covered and entrance which was the main one thats why the others didnt show signs of use until they blocked the main one, the heavy dump truck would disturb breeding badgers and could collapse the sett. As the sett could be 310 meters then the path could effect it and a licence was required
The entrance to the sett is located beneath the evergreen shrubs. The path edge is beyond the left hand edge of the photograph. The extent of the badger spoil can be seen at the top of the shadow. What is visible is the adjacent new topsoil that has been spread along the edge of the path. This topsoil is being seeded with grass-seed.
During the planning of this project badgers were not considered as a risk as they were not known to be in the park. As soon as their potential presence was suggested officers immediately went to investigate and found nothing to suggest disturbance to the badger sett. The method of construction of the new path has not required any excavation close to the badger holes so the only disturbance has been vehicle movements along the path which , given the proximity of the perimeter road, disturbance would be minimal . Whilst soil has been deposited close to the holes, the impact of this is negligible and now at an end.
I did call Mr Wright on Monday prior to visiting the park. At the scene I spoke to some of the contractors who were spreading top-soil with rakes in the vicinity of the badger holes.
The path work in that area is now complete so there will not be any further chance of disturbance from this project. The Badger holes are now being monitored to check that the badgers remain undisturbed.
The advice on working close to a Badger Sett is found https://www.gov.uk/guidance/badgers-protection-surveys-and-licences . The guidance states:
You usually won’t need a licence to do the following if it’s unlikely to disturb a badger in its sett:
work with hand tools or machinery above or below ground close to a sett
clear vegetation near setts, including felling small trees or shrubs
clear ditches and watercourses using hand tools or machinery
The Council takes its responsibilities for protecting wildlife very seriously and we are satisfied that our actions on this project have not exceeded what is permitted. The presence of badgers will now be factored into any future projects in Queens Park.
He has highlighted the rules and yes you can work with hand tools within the area only when you apply for a licence and are then advised its not needed. Before telling lies one should first check there isnt video , photos and witness to the fact they used a digger and he admits they used a dump truck to dump tones of heavy clay within a foot of the sett which makes it a wildlife crime and it has been reported to the Police as such. Having found there were badgers they were duty bound to get a ecologist and not some random worker who cant tell a rabbit hole from a badger sett. They should then have told contractors to not use heavy machines within at least 20ft ( contractors claim they were never told about badgers)
There was no reason whatsoever to use a digger to spread soil near badgers it could have been done within the law and used a wheel barrow or even left it until the breeding season is over.
The new paths will allow the whole community to enjoy the diverse wildlife found in Queens Park.
Regards
George
George Broughton
Park Development Manager | Waste and Environmental Commissioning Team | Cheshire East Council, Municipal Building, Earle Street, Crewe. CW1 2BJ
(01270 (6) 86054 * george.broughton@cheshireeast.gov.uk
After problems with the badgers in the Queens Park Crewe were Cheshire east Council are redoing paths. I saw on Sunday that work was going on close to the sett. I emailed the council leader rachel.bailey@cheshireeast.gov.uk and the portfolio holder sam.gardner@cheshireeast.gov.uk and advised to stop the work in the area of the badgers I have had no reply from them.
No disputing they used a digger heres the evidence
On Monday morning I rang the Mr Bagley the environmental officer for the council and advised him that work should be stopped and pointed him to evidence that the sett was very active. He said he would phone George Broughton who was in charge of the project and get him to ring me back as a matter of urgency which he didnt.
I arrived at the park at 1 pm only to find they were using a digger to move soil onto the badger sett it being wrong to use heavy digger with 10 mtrs of an active sett. I rang Ian at the contractors
Pronin Limited
Unit 2,
Waymills Industrial Estate,
Whitchurch,
Shropshire,
SY13 1TT
Telephone: 01948 663014
E-mail: info@pronin.co.uk
I explained as wildlife crime was being committed by his staff and asked him to stop the work he wasn't in the slightest interested and refused to take any action to stop this criminal activity. If your thinking of employing this firm you may want to consider this attitude. I have rang them since and they refuse to answer me. His staff claimed in the park they hadnt used a digger until I told them I had it on video and photos. He is guilty as one quick phone call could have stop the crime which he failed to do.
I rang Mr. Bagley as a matter of urgency he got George to ring me and he said he would attend in 30 mins he claimed he had rang me several times with no answer but my logs show no calls. I waited with others for over an hour and a half and by this time the work men had done the crime and moved on. I believe that George and Mr Bagley stalled doing anything so the job would be finished before they got there it would have taken only mins for them to ring and have the job stopped.
George claimed he had looked at the sett when I complained before about illegal activity weeks ago and he believed the sett wasnt used. see http://www.queensparkcrewe.com/2016/01/have-cec-illegally-killed-badgers.html He is not qualified to make that decision only an ecologist can say that and they must by law prove it not used by cameras etc over a period of 3+ weeks.
What George should have done is stop any work in the area its not vital work so there is no urgency. He should have then called a qualified ecologist to carry out a survey.
Question now need to be answered why did this project get past planning without a ecologist survey in the first place that is a fault with planning and a mis managment of planning.
To work so close to badger they need a licence and being breading season they wouldnt get one why didnt they not get a licence who is responsible?
The concern is now there are other setts in the park with work planned a few feet from the setts will they continue to flout the law and disturb or kill the badgers?
I have complained to the council who have assigned it to the park manager who wont be able to investigate her senior manager George or the planning committee.
The matter has been reported to the Cheshire Police as a wildlife crime
We reported a few weeks ago of the CEC contractors committing a criminal act by disturbing a badger sett without a license. It was investigated and CEC claimed the sett was unused but by law they have to prove that which they didnt they showed a photo of the sett covered in leaves which was strange as that sort of leaves are not in that area. So it looks like a cover up. You can see from the photos that the sett has had massive amounts of soil dug out by the badgers and is the classic D shape hole so its very active. If you look close at full image you can make out badger foot prints. The contractors have been doing work very close to the sett and by law must only use hand tools within 10 ft of the sett this hasn't happened they have illegally used machines. So he will be prosecuted? You can see in the photo evidence of bottles etc on the sett as if workmen have been sitting on it
The official line is
Work near active badger setts must be carried out between July and
November inclusive, to avoid the disturbance of breeding female badgers.
Badger tunnels can extend up to 20 metres from the entrance holes and are
located between 0.2 metres and several metres deep, depending on the soil
and topography. Excavation work and heavy machinery must be kept well
away from where it could result in damage to the sett or disturbance to any
badger occupying the sett.
All works within 10 metres of the nearest sett entrance must be undertaken using hand tools only.
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