Planning and Development

Badgers and their setts are protected by law. Photo: Wikipedia

You may have seen in the latest "Grebe" magazine the results of the survey of members carried out recently. One area that was flagged up as of high importance was involvement in development and planning. Wirral Wildlife has been busy in this "behind the scenes" area for around 40 years, starting in the early days of the local group when Wirral became part of Merseyside instead of Cheshire. We cover geographical Wirral, so also comment on planning in Ellesmere Port, Neston, Willaston and the surrounding areas.

Planning these days splits into two main tasks. Development control is the week-by-week planning applications that impact on the ground. Forward Planning is the drawing up of the Local Plan or Local Development Framework that guides the planning officers in deciding on development control applications. The Forward Planning processes include much public consultation, which is our chance to get the right policies and words in the plan for quoting at Development Control level when we respond to applications.

As a result of our long involvement and evidence-based comments, we are taken seriously by both Wirral and CW&C planning departments. I do the regular responses for Wirral Wildlife, helped by various colleagues within CWT and in sister organisations, especially when it come to consultations.

The amount of support from central CWT has varied over the decades, but we now have a Planning Officer in post (Rachel Giles), who will be working regularly with CW&C so able to take more of that area. Margaret Jackson checks the public weekly lists and notifies Rachel and I of any applications with possible wildlife implications.

Most of our responses involve "comments" asking for particular conditions to protect wildlife, often during the construction phase. Occasionally we have to object outright where something would be seriously damaging to wildlife, or where applicants have failed to do appropriate wildlife surveys so there is insufficient information.

In the last year, in Wirral Borough, I commented on 53 applications, and reviewed another 49 where no comment proved necessary, so this is a busy role. Of the 43 so far determined, we got some improvement for wildlife in 35 cases. Applications range from extensions to houses bordering Sites of Biological Importance (frequently no comment, or standard conditions e.g. to protect badgers) to larger scale work such as new housing at Bromborough and developments along the coast, where precautions are needed against water pollution and disturbance harming the Mersey and Dee Estuaries and adjacent internationally-protected sites.

The part of CW&C that I deal with is much less busy - last year 8 comments, 16 no comments, good result for wildlife in 4 cases. Unfortunately the losses here included the big housing development proposed for Little Sutton, where some mitigation for wildlife was eventually obtained, but not as much as I would have liked.

Consultations recently have included, as well as the developing Local Plans for both boroughs, ones on climate change strategy (Wirral BC), natural character areas (Natural England), river basin strategy (Environment Agency) and even the Maritime Licensing Agency (Meols outfall). I do learn things I never imagined from this side of the work! New things arise at regular intervals - Sustainable Drainage Systems are finally being required, as climate change leads to more intense rainfall and the inevitable consequences. Anyone know anything about hydrology??

I have been doing the planning work for 27 years, and would like to share it with one of two other people, especially the Wirral Borough work. It is a somewhat complex area to get into, though we are developing standard responses for regular issues like badgers, bats and great crested newts.

Anyone who would like to be involved, please contact me!

Hilary Ash

327 5923

Brimstone Caterpillars Measure Up for National Insect Week

The event at New Ferry Butterfly Park to mark National Insect Week was planned before the exciting discovery of the first brimstone butterfly caterpillars to be recorded at the park and in the Wirral. It was touch and go as to whether visitors would see any brimstone caterpillars as the first ones spotted a week before were already 3 cm long and near to pupation. The caterpillar stage lasts approximately a month with the caterpillar going through five instars before becoming a pupa. At the end of each instar the caterpillar moults its skin so that it can rapidly grow bigger before the skin hardens up again.

Early brimstone instar and shed skin

Brimstone butterfly caterpillars were found on a range of alder buckthorn shrubs, some of which had been planted a decade ago and some which were still in pots yet to be planted! Now we have the eye for the caterpillars there will be monitoring to see which buckthorns are preferred for egg laying. It seems they like new fresh growth rather than the mature leaves that have developed secondary compounds to discourage predators.

Brimstone caterpillar at the top of an alder buckthorn shrub still in a pot

National Insect Week is promoted by the Royal Entomological Society to increase interest in insects and to get the public involved in identifying them. The society provides some basic free spotter guides and other related insect goodies just to get you started.

The quest to see the new arrivals was successful with four brimstone caterpillars being seen. The impressive, more showy and gregarious black peacock butterfly caterpillars were out in large numbers too.

There were an impressive 11 species of butterfly on the wing. This was remarkable because the event fell in between the spring and summer butterfly broods and species. The colourful burnet moths were also out in force. There were 107 visitors, the record for a Sunday, bar our special open days. In fact every visit to the park is an insect day.

Paul Loughnane

Foxy Tales

Wirral Wildlife member Les Roberts contacted us with some photos he had taken of foxes in his garden. We asked him if he would like to write a post for the blog...

Magpies are not everyone’s favourite bird but the one in this picture seemed less than enamoured with the young fox. We feed the birds with sunflower hearts which the fox, on recent mornings, has obviously found to be a nutritious granola alternative breakfast. The intelligent Magpie made it clear it was not happy with the intruder, or with having to wait for its own “petit dejeuner”.

The recent morning appearance of two young fox cubs in our garden, reminded us of a sequence of foxy events that occurred some years ago. Then, an enterprising vixen, unbelievably, climbed up inside our conifer hedge, flicked down three unfledged chicks from a nest and, jumping after them, took all three in her mouth and left the lawn at a leisurely pace.

Although upset we believed it to be useless and wrong to interfere. It made us aware though that the fox had cubs. We decided to leave out the odd titbit. To our surprise the vixen became quite tame. It did not leave the garden when we were in it and would even approach us if we took out food.

Now our actions may have been misguided. We certainly didn’t want the fox to be reliant on us, nor become too trusting of humankind, but we had started, we thought, so we had to finish.

The vixen remained in good condition and, some weeks later, brought to us what we took to be a vulpine thank you. She appeared with two, youngish, cubs; sat a little distance from them as they played and seemed unperturbed as we entered the garden to take photographs. The cubs were a bit nervous until they picked up on their mother’s calmness.

After that we did not see the mother again. The growing cubs did come into the garden on the odd occasion, not always looking in the best of condition. Eventually only one of them appeared and, after a few sightings, that animal too never returned.

Foxes are not now an unusual sight in urban areas but they face threats and are generally not long lived - motor traffic being a particular hazard. At the time we were rather sad ours had gone, although they may be screeching in a different territory at this very moment.  The garden conifers have also gone, replaced with a less height prone species, but, pleasingly for us, foxes are back. Two nervous young animals initially, now just the one. We don’t know for how long but, whilst it’s here, we will enjoy watching it – even if the birds begrudge sharing the sunflower hearts.

We always welcome content for either our blog or our newsletter. If you would like to contribute photographs and/ or an article, please email us.

Brimstones Breeding at Butterfly Park

Brimstone caterpillar camouflaged while feeding on Alder Buckthorn
at New Ferry Butterfly Park

Some great and encouraging news...

I have spotted Brimstone caterpillars of various sizes feeding on alder buckthorn, four of them on the alder buckthorn bank, just south of the calcareous meadow. There is another single caterpillar on the isolated alder buckthorn shrub at the end of the ditch at the upper level behind the garden, almost at the Brick Pit Coppice. Just look for leaf damage which can be considerable as the caterpillars will grow up to 3 cm long and at that stage will eat whole leaves. I am sure there are more to spot.

See the photograph above of a brimstone caterpillar at the park in the classic mid-rib position on the leaf. When at rest, the larva has a curious habit of lifting the front half of its body off the leaf. Already, 20 Brimstone Imagoes have been counted this spring, the most ever recorded at the park. The alder buckthorns were planted over a decade ago by 4th Bebington Scouts, St John’s New Ferry, so we have waited a long time for this.

It is great news for New Ferry Butterfly Park, as the adult male butterflies being bright yellow are highly conspicuous, being the longest lived British butterfly they have a long flight period, so there is a relatively good chance for visitors to the park to encounter them flying by at some speed, adding greatly to their experience.

This is the first time that we have been able to confirm that they are breeding at New Ferry Butterfly Park. Barry Shaw, Cheshire County Butterfly Recorder for the Cheshire and Peak branch of Butterfly Conservation said “Whilst I suspect that not too many contributors actually look for the early stages of Cheshire butterflies I have checked data going back to the year 2000 and this would seem to be the first confirmed breeding on the Wirral”.

Some of the smaller instars, may be big enough in a fortnight so that they can be stars of the show on the Insect Day guided walk on Sunday 29th June at 2 p.m.

So this is an interesting find for wardens to share with visitors. This is a first breeding record for the park and a first breeding record for Wirral.

Paul Loughnane

Talk - Wildlife on your Doorstep

Burton Manor Gardens are hosting an evening talk entitled "Wildlife on your Doorstep".

It takes place on Wednesday 25th June at 7.30 p.m. at Burton Manor.

The cost is £7.50 for Friends of Burton Manor Gardens and £10 for non-Friends. This includes tea, soft drink and buffet supper.

Colin Wells and Lynne Greenstreet will talk about the wildlife that can be seen through the seasons at RSPB’s Burton Mere Wetlands Reserve.

For more information, please see this link: 

http://www.burtonmanorgardens.org.uk/wildlife-on-your-doorstep/

To book, phone Neil Johnstone on 0151 336 7332 or send an email

Payment can be made on the night.

Gowy Meadows walk

Sunday 15th June

Gowy Meadows Walk

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Gowy Meadows has an excellent variety of wildflowers and attracts several species of summer visiting birds. We’ll explore the mix of wildflowers grassland, wetlands, hedgerow and river bank habitats across the Cheshire Wildlife Trust largest nature reserve, on the lookout for raptors, warblers and newly fledged summer migrants.

After a wet spell it can be very muddy and boggy in places, so if there has been rain please wear suitable footwear.

Meet at Thornton Green Lane, CH2 4JH. Directions and map on the CWT website:

www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/gowy-meadows

To book a place telephone Linda on 0151 342 1395.

Natterjacks at Red Rocks

The new scrapes at the CWT Red Rocks nature reserve have been a success. Male natterjack toads were heard calling and spawning took place. You can listen to a recording of their calls from April this year: http://picosong.com/CfXh/

The pools now contain lots of tadpoles which hopefully will metamorphose and increase the population of toads.

For more information about the work being carried out by CWT, including an update on habitat management, see the news section on their website: New Home For Natterjacks