IT WAS newt heights for a group of the amphibians rescued from a well inside treatment works near Warwick.
Severn Trent ecologists installed a ladder in the well for the newts – which are a protected species – so they can climb out should they find their way in again.
Similarly, the team at the company’s Balsall Common treatment works, has installed a new underground badger highway that stretches from one side of a road to another. The highway allows repairs to a nearby pavement to continue without disturbing the sett – thought to be 50-years-old and home to around 30 badgers.
The water company has also recently awarded £68,5000 to community groups in Coventry and Warwickshire through its ‘biodiversity funding’, to boost nature across some 100 acres in the area.
A Warwickshire project known as Little England Butterfly Boost project, was among those to receive a cut. The project, which was handed some £21,000, aims to benefit nationally scarce butterflies.
CEO Liv Garfield said: “Our headquarters are in Coventry, so for us it’s really important we play a proactive role in both Coventry and across the wider region. Our customers and the environment are at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to delivering long-lasting positive change wherever possible.”
The company recently faced scrutiny after Environment Agency figures revealed the company discharged raw sewage into rivers nearly 61,000 times – an equivalent of 64 years was calculated between the separate incidents across the country’s waterways.
A new Environmental Bill aims to reduce the amount of discharges water companies make which aims to prevent flooding and sewage backing up into streets and homes.
Visit www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/environment/biodiversity for information on the biodiversity funding.
