A COLONY of newts that has waylaid a housing development has been relocated to a new residence.
Persimmon Homes are generally in the business of creating enviable living spaces for their human customers – but the housebuilder has recently had to deal with a much different client.
Since acquiring the land off Kingfisher Lane, Willington, the firm has undertaken work to re-home the colony of great crested newts by carefully transferring them to a new protected habitat away from the development.
Newts, which have lizard-like bodies, can live permanently in water or can be semi-aquatic, which means they only return to water once a year to breed.
Sherrie Hankin, head of sales for Persimmon Homes North Midlands, said: "As with all of our developments, we follow the correct strategy to ensure that any wildlife around a construction site is adequately protected and we're pleased to say that the family of newts are as happy as ever in their natural habitat.
"It's just fortunate that making homes, regardless of species, is what we do best.
"Hanson's Reach promises to be an exciting and stylish new development within Willington, which will provide a range of homes for first-time buyers and growing families.
"A high level of enquiries prior to the development's launch shows us that buyers should act fast if they want to reserve their dream home."
The 58 homes at the Willington site are just the latest building works that have been disrupted by water-based residents.
The roadworks at the Little Eaton island were set back months after the discovery of a rare type of crayfish.
The Highways Agency said an environmental assessment did not detect the presence of any protected species at the site before the work started.
But huge numbers of the creatures were found and were moved to another part of the brook about 200 metres away from the ongoing roadworks at the roundabout.
