Dr Sasha Norris has devoted years of her life to Herefordshire Wildlife Rescue, an organisation run from her Herefordshire home, along with local businesswoman Jacqui Mayne.
Many of the hundreds, if not thousands, of animals which have come through Dr Norris’s doors have included barn owls, which she has hand-reared, and several of whom have met an untimely fate on Herefordshire A-roads, with Dr Norris finding their corpses.
According to the Barn Owl Trust, between 3,000 and 5,000 of the 12,000 young owls born each year are killed on Britain’s roads.
According to the data, owls living within 25km of a main road are at risk of death.
The discussion of the project’s impact on the environment and wildlife was raised at a recent ‘Back the Bypass’ event hosted by Herefordshire Council, with the cabinet member for environment, Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, telling guests that the first phase of the project will mean an extra 3km of hedgerow, along with “species-rich” new woodland.
The meeting was also told that 13 acres of woodland would be planted, contingent on the loss of two acres of ancient woodland at Grafton.
But Dr Norris believes the mitigation measures are currently “nowhere near adequate”, but is planning to meet with Herefordshire Council officials.
“I would say that in a county as wildlife-rich as Herefordshire, we should be going over and above, like significantly, what is national standards,” she added.
She believes that although many housing developers plant a significant amount of trees on new estates, they are not always the correct species or old enough to become a healthy habitat for wildlife.
“So they can say they’ve planted a thousand trees, but what species of trees are they? And how big are they going to get?” she said.
“And are they actually ever going to be home for bats, or woodpeckers, or an owl?”
“So I guess, you know, my interest is being a voice for these animals, and trying to have a deep insight into what their actual needs are, and then try and reflect that back out to the public.”
Dr Norris has also raised concerns over the efficacy of a bypass and whether measures to prevent damage to Herefordshire’s wildlife would prove enough.
“Essentially, when you build bypasses, what happens is ultimately you end up, quite quickly, with more traffic.
“Because you direct traffic that is passing through an area onto this new road, because they think ‘Oh, there’s a new road, I’ll travel on that rather than going a different route.’
“So, cars coming in and out of Wales are likely to choose that direction rather than going perhaps a bit further south or a bit further north.
“So that’s one thing, but the other thing is, of course, you get this concomitant housing development, increase in population, and then you get just more traffic.
“And any bypass, anywhere, come rush hour is stationary.”
Herefordshire Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Culture and Environment, Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, said the plans for the first phase of the route are based on “extensive” environmental research and ecology surveys, which have looked at species including barn owls, bats, skylarks, newts, and dormice.
She said the scheme will include new planting, with around 4.5 kilometres of hedgerow planned, 34,000 square metres of species-rich woodland, and wildlife crossing points.
