Clee Hill newts

Work to extend MQP’s Clee Hill quarry in Shropshire is going ahead after the creation of a new habitat for the resident great crested newts.

Permission to strip the soil from one area that formed part of the protected species’ habitat was given following extensive work. Other areas included in the development plans for future extraction will get similar clearance when the newts living there are moved to newly built receptor pools constructed on a different part of the site.

“The new pools are designed to protect the newts, maintain their breeding patterns and hopefully increase the colony,” said MQP operations director Phil Bradshaw. “Amphibian netting will ensure they do not inadvertently wander back to the original area.”

The painstaking work will allow stone to be extracted in areas which have not yet been developed