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New Civil Engineer (Road)

M25 Runoff Ponds Inspection Regimes Revealed And Great Crested Newt Habitat DecliningThe inspection and maintenance regimes of five of the 95 runoff ponds around the M25, which are managed by National Highways, have been revealed under the Freedom of Information Act. NCE previously revealed that many of the 95 ponds around the M25 designed to be regularly emptied have not been maintained for decades. Data from a previous FOI response showed that the roads body did not have or would not reveal information relating to the last time 87 of 94 of the ponds had been maintained. A 95th pond was later revealed by Connect Plus Services, National Highways’ contractor. This means that they are less effective in preventing floods and are likely filling up with hazardous chemicals from road runoff, which could be entering watercourses. Academics and NGOs with experience in this field told NCE that National Highways is likely not investigating them in order to avoid liabilities. The latest data shared with NCE by National Highways reveals the inspection and maintenance regimes over the previous five years at Beggars Lane Pond, New Pond, Blackdale Fann Pond, Spur Road Pond and Godstone Roundabout Pond. The organisation, which is responsible for England's strategic road network (SRN), provided a legend showing 'service condition grade quick assessment'. Source: National Highways The full dataset is available at the bottom of this article, but maintenance was not completed at any of the ponds at least during the period covered. All but one of the ponds scored 3 or better, with Godstone Roundabout Pond scoring 5. National Highways said it started maintenance but this was paused due to the presence of Great Crested Newts (GCN). Consideration for the presence of Great Crested Newts came up multiple times, with GCN Habitat Suitability Index surveys taking place multiple times at the ponds over the five year period. Stormwater Shepherds is a not-for-profit working to improve the health of waterways and its director of operations UK Jo Bradley reacted to the data. Bradley has visited Beggars Land Pond and Blackdale Fann Pond in-person. Beggars Lane Pond The condition grade assessment worsened from 2 to 3 over the course of the inspection period, according to National Highways. Bradley said: “Beggars Lane had a significant silt build up at the inlet, to the top of the water level at the time of our inspection, so I would think that was more Grade 4 or 5. “Grade 5 says ‘trees in pond’ and there were definitely trees in the pond!” Bradley had visited in October 2021. Source: Jo Bradley Source: Jo Bradley Blackdale Fann Pond No grade was assigned for the inspections carried out in 2019, but a service grade of 1 was awarded in January 2020. Meanwhile in January 2019, a GCN habitat suitability score of 'Good' was given. In May 2022, a grade of 9 was recorded, but this is likely a typo. In addition, at that visit, access was not granted to the inspectors due to a “change of padlock.” The asset was instead “inspected through [the] fenceline.” The pond had its grade downrated to 2 in August 2024 and its GCN Habitat Suitability Index survey scored “poor.” Blackdale Fann Pond, which is how it is spelt in National Highways FOI releases, is next to Blackdale Farm. Bradley went on: “Blackdale Farm also had a significant build up of sediment around the inlet and into the pond when we visited it in October 2021, although it was not build up to the water surface level so it is not apparent in the photos. “But it seems odd that they have scored it as Grade 2 in August this year! The sediment build up must be compromising the functional volume of the pond!” Conservation expert says poor water quality could be reason for habitat decline NCE spoke with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation conservation director Jim Foster to understand more about what the presence of GCNs can mean for National Highways. Foster said GCN are “strictly protected in law” which means “you can’t do certain things to them” such as disturb, injure or kill them, or damage their habitats, “without committing an offence.” He clarified that you can get licenses that allow you do normally unlawful things to them, but the license “only allows you to do those things for certain purposes and in accordance with conditions. “The main bulk of the legislation affecting great crested newts is something called the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. “You can apply for an exemption for a number of reasons and for almost all of those, you go to the statutory agency, and in England, that would be Natural England. “You'd need a license from Natural England to do things that are otherwise unlawful, and you'd need to set out why you need to do that work.” Impact of chronic pollution on GCN NCE asked Foster if he thought the fact that issues with runoff pond environments affecting GCN habitats was a chronic issue meant t was more difficult to take enforcement action. Foster said: “That is the really difficult thing, because I'm not convinced that you could make a compelling claim that there's been an offense there. “Many people working in conservation would be frustrated by that, including me, but if it's simply a matter of habitat declining through inaction, then in most cases, it's unlikely an offense would be triggered.” He did, however, say that there’s an exemption where if the site is within a protected area, like a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Ramsar site, then an “an additional layer of legislation can be brought to bare.” Public bodies responsibility to protect GCN “There's a general provision in law called the Section 40 duty, which is often called the biodiversity duty which arises from the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. “It brought in this principle that public bodies should be helping biodiversity through their functions. And the Section 40 duty says, ‘Hey, all public bodies, you've got to consider biodiversity and make sure that you do right by it.’ “Alongside that, there's something called a Section 41 list, which is a list of priority species. It's those species that these public bodies are meant to pay particular attention to. “Great crested newt is on that list. The thing about it is it's a very blunt tool. It simply says to public bodies, you know, you should consider them in your in your duties. “Just because GCN use the habitat doesn't mean it's totally sacrosanct.” He said Natural England would say it is “best to do any invasive works in the pond over the winter, which is normally when the newts have left the pond. “You can go into a pond and scrape out the accumulated leaves and sediment and so on. You can do that perfectly legally over the winter, and it's good for the pond, good for the newts, and you don't need a license to do that.” Decline in habitat suitability at Blackdale Fann Pond NCE asked Foster, if he was the biodiversity professional responsible for monitoring protected species in M25 ponds at National Highways, how he would react to the habitat suitability scores dropping. He said: “I'd immediately be concerned that habitat suitability has declined in that period, but I'd want to know what the issue is. “The habitat suitability index is really handy. There's 10 different factors that make up the habitat suitability. “It's very easy to tell by looking at the scores what's going wrong with that pond. But at the moment, because it doesn't actually say anything more about what the scores are, I can’t say” NCE asked why he thought the GCN habitat suitability score could have dropped at Blackdale Fann Pond, given that the key differences according to Google Earth historic images appear to be a change in the colour of the water, and more vegetation around the pond. He said: “There's a whole range of reasons. It might be water quality.” Foster said the 10 factors include for assessing habitat suitability include “water quality, fish, presence, water fowl, frequency of drying, things like that. “It could be any one of those, or several of those things combined.” Bradley was previously asked in July 2024 why the pond looks black compared to other bodies of water nearby. She said it’s because of “contaminated sediments. “It’s just full because the separators haven’t been emptied and they’re huge,” she added. “So they’re going to cost a lot of money to empty and the pond is full of motorway sediment. That’s why it’s that colour.” Given Bradley’s comments about the potential drop in water quality, Foster said: “water quality might be [the reason for the GCN habitat suitability decrease] and if it's full of hydrocarbons. “The person who was doing the habitat suitability index assessment probably would have said, ‘Wow, I can see that this pond is heavily polluted.’ That would go that would get a low score on the habitat suitability index, and it might bring the [overall] score down. “I do have some sympathies here with National Highways in that these are… engineering assets, rather than intended to be wildlife habitat.” National Highways responds National Highways provided a quote from its director of environmental sustainability Stephen Elderkin which was very similar to the quotes it provided in response to previous articles on the subject by NCE. Elderkin said: “We are committed to addressing the risk of pollution from road runoff. “Our Water Quality Plan 2030 sets out a high-level programme of work to achieve this. “High quality road infrastructure can support positive environmental outcomes, and that is at the heart of our work in this area.” In addition to the quote, a National Highways spokesperson provided additional clarifications, saying: “Ponds are subject to regular inspections in accordance with the industry standards. “Water quality is one of the many factors used in calculating the Habitat Sustainability Index (HSI). “Grade 4 ponds have maintenance works incorporated into their 5-year plan. Works for Grade 5 ponds are planned to be delivered within 12-18 months of testing and surveys. “'No works required’ refers to ecological surveys, which determine risks such as the presence of fly-tipping that could lead to contamination of the environment. “‘Not in current 5-year plan’ refers to removing silt as determined by Longstop Condition Requirement Inspections.” In its FOI response, National Highways stated that works at Godstone Roundabout had to be paused because of the presence of GCN. It said works were scheduled to restart in Winter 2024/2025. NCE asked National Highways if those works remained on schedule. It said: “Desilting works at Godstone Roundabout remain scheduled for this winter.” The full dataset: Source: National Highways Source: National Highways Like what you've read? To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here.

road-bridge

Dec 18, 2024

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