Badgers

Badgers

Badgers (Meles meles) are relatively common throughout Britain, with the largest populations in south west England. Despite this they are rarely seen due to their nocturnal habits.

Badgers are social animals, living in groups underground in setts which consist of tunnels and nest chambers with several entrances. The setts can be inherited from previous generations, resulting in large and expanding tunnel systems, and in some cases the setts can be centuries old.  

They are omnivorous which means they eat both vegetation and meat and can eat several hundred earthworms every night.

Protection


Badgers are fairly common, but are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The protection is in place to prevent badger baiting and blood sports involving badgers.

Because of their relatively high numbers, it is not unusual to find a presence of badgers on or near a development site. Planning permission can be refused unless the developer can prove that:

  • Badgers will be adequately protected during development works.
  • The disturbance will be kept to a minimum.
  • Alternative habitat will be provided to accommodate the population on site.

Mitigation


If an occupied sett is found on the development site, badgers can be excluded from their sett, under licence, by installing one-way badger gates onto sett entrances, secured with badger-proof fencing. The gates allow the badgers out of the sett, but not back in. Once the licence holder has confirmed that the badgers have left the sett, the sett can then be carefully excavated.

Alternative habitat can be provided by the creation of an artificial badger sett using a system of tubes and nesting chambers which are then buried underground.

Maintaining woods and hedgerows on or near the development site is also advisable.

The licensed sett disturbance can normally only be done between 1st June and 30th November, so this should be considered when planning the development.

If you have a suspected occupied badger sett on site, please contact us on 01483 466066.

 

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