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Badger sett closure and artificial sett creation
Badger sett closure and artificial sett creation
Shoeburyness, Essex
October - December 2010
A coastal flood defence bund was to be built on the site of a badger sett in Shoeburyness, Essex, by the local borough council.
Under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 it is an offence to interfere with or disturb an occupied sett, so Thomson Habitats were asked to close the sett under licence prior to the works commencing and encourage the badgers into a new artificial sett nearby.
The works included:
- Installing 50 one-way badger gates.
- Surrounding the existing setts with netting (pinned to the ground with posts) which prevented the badgers from entering.
- Constructing an artificial sett (covering an area of 1.2 hectares) consisting of 8 nesting chambers.
- Connecting the chambers by a network of pipes.
- Burying the sett to a depth of at least 1250mm.
- Baiting the completed artificial sett to encourage the badgers to use it.
Photographic evidence showed that within just one week badgers were occupying the artificial sett.
