A ‘wildlife superhighway’ has been installed at a new housing development on the north-eastern fringe of Stoke Gifford to ensure the amphibian residents feel right at home.
Housebuilder Wain Homes installed the £100,000 bespoke pair of tunnels underneath the entrance road to Mulgrove Farm Village (near Parkway North Roundabout) in a joint project with South Gloucestershire Council.
The tunnel is part of extensive landscaping and ecological works at the development which will also see dozens of new trees planted to turn the entrance road into an avenue of green to create high quality habitats for wildlife.
Tony Lloyd, senior technical coordinator at Wain Homes, said:
“The ecological impact of any development is obviously a high priority and installing measures like this tunnel ensures that wildlife can still travel to different habitats.”
“People are often surprised by the distance amphibians can cover between feeding and breeding grounds but toads, for instance, can travel up to three kilometres, so it is important they have safe routes maintained.”
“The tunnel design was specified by an ecologist with the area around landscaped to make it as natural as possible to wildlife and each tunnel has guide walls to the sides which funnel the amphibians towards them.”
“We just hope they like their new superhighway!”
Cllr Louise Harris, South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet member for climate and nature emergency, said:
“The Mulgrove development is an exciting venture to deliver energy efficient and sustainable homes here in South Gloucestershire which are compliant with our climate emergency policies and meet the future housing needs of our residents.”
“Protecting nature and safeguarding important species is vitally important with developments such as these, so it is fantastic to see that local wildlife will be kept safe and habitats remain connected, following the installation of these specially designed tunnels.”
Wain Homes is building a range of two-bedroom apartments and three-, four- and five-bedroom homes at its award-winning Mulgrove Farm Village development off Great Stoke Way.
Prices currently start from £290,000 at the development which was named ‘Large Residential Development of the Year’ at the South West Residential Property Awards 2023.
For more information, visit the Wain Homes website.
Related links
- Location of Mulgrove Farm Village (Google Maps)
- Mulgrove Farm Village site plan [PDF; 8.5MB] (Wainhomes)
- Mulgrove Farm Village brochure [PDF; 18.0MB] (Wain Homes)
- East of Harry Stoke New Neighbourhood (The Journal)
