Newt fencing has been installed in Cell B1 of Newcastle Great Park, despite the fact that planning permission has not yet been fully granted.
Landscaping for nature conservation in Cell B1 was halted a number of years ago, owing to the presence of Great Crested Newts.
Now these newts are being trapped and removed.
Furthermore, once the land is developed, sports pitches will be treated with herbicides - likely containing glyphosate - which is toxic to aquatic life.
This will find its way into soils and waterways in the adjacent Havannah and Three Hills Nature Reserve and have an adverse effect on the remaining populations of frogs, toads, newts and other wildlife in the reserve.
There was and is no need to develop Cell B1, which was not allocated for any form of development in the local plan and is designated as Green Belt and strategic open space.
Persimmon Homes & Taylor Wimpey should be forced to reduce the number of houses in Cell A to align with the local plan and the requirement for all schools provision to be located within Cell A.
You can still object to the plans by emailing planning.control@newcastle.gov.uk and quoting application reference 2017/0666/09/RES.
We have produced a template letter to help with your objection, which can be found here: