It had the chancellor's cash, the prime minister's support and the deputy prime minister's steely determination – it seemed nothing could stop the Communities Plan.
But no one had reckoned on the great crested newt.

Work on the 1300-home Barracks site in Ashford, Kent – a key site in the strategy for the South-east – had already been held up for six months by a colony of the protected amphibians (HT 12 September 2003, page 10).

Now, they are set to cause at least another year's delay: developers can only round them up during the breeding season from February to April and, having failed to do so this year, must now wait until next spring.

For each month that work is delayed, developers Westbury and Wimpey fall 13 homes behind schedule and continue paying interest on the £18m loan they took out for the £140m development.

Newts have also deterred the same developers from knocking down 40 asbestos-ridden buildings on the same site. Two of the buildings were set on fire last month, releasing dangerous particles into the air. The developers have applied to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for special permission to demolish the buildings.

Source

Housing Today