By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
Nine new ponds will be created near a Bassetlaw village as part of efforts to reverse the declining water vole population across the county.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust submitted proposals for the water features to be created near the village of Gamston to Bassetlaw District Council in August 2024.
The council granted the proposals last Friday (January 3).
The new pools will be located on old farmland along the River Idle to the south-west of Gamston, off of Rectory Lane and Church Lane.
The land became a wet marsh as a result of mining and could no longer be farmed.
The proposals form part of the Nottinghamshire Water Vole Recovery Project, organised by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, which is running until March 2025.
The water vole is Britain’s fastest declining mammal- over the past more than 100 years it has lost 95 per cent of its range.
The vole is a small animal with chestnut-brown fur, a blunt, rounded nose, small ears, and a furry tail.
Water vole surveys in Nottinghamshire in early 2023 found the species to be absent or reduced across sites where they were historically found.
This is largely due to the American Mink, which were introduced to the UK in the 1920s for fur farms.
By the 1950s this species had either escaped or been released and were breeding in the wild.
The wider recovery project will see nearly £500,000 invested into habitat creation and restoration, with 40 new ponds on the trust’s reserves and across suitable sites.
In September 2024, more than 100 water voles bred in captivity were released into the wild at Idle Valley Nature Reserve as part of the project.
Jack Scarborough, Water Vole Recovery Project Officer (North) at the trust, said: “It’s fantastic we have permission, [the wider project] has been a lot of work over a period of time [15 months] – this is the biggest habitat enhancement the water vole recovery project team is undertaking and it’s an amazing opportunity.
“There’s so much potential with the site, water voles are our flagship species, but the works we’re doing on that site and other sites, it’s work that’s going to benefit all kinds of species – I’m looking forward to seeing it finished.”
The council’s officer report says the site is “likely to be used by common amphibians, reptiles, water vole, otter and a wide variety of bird species”.
Mr Scarborough also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service works on the site began today (January 6) with the aim to have it completed by the end of March this year.
He added: “Thank you to the landowners who have allowed us to undertake this work. If it wasn’t for them approaching the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust in the first place, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Planning documents noted resident concerns of the proposals exacerbating the existing mosquito problems in the Idle Valley due to the wet conditions.
Papers said that the scheme has the added aim of reducing the mosquito population by converting flood zones into permanent wetland habitat that support the animals that are predators to mosquito larvae.
Five of the ponds will connect to the river through a new channel through the site and joining the river at both ends.
Two excavators and one dumper truck are expected to be needed on site.
These are anticipated to access the land from the Rectory Lane end of Church Lane- the vehicles will stay on site whilst works are ongoing to limit their use of Church Lane.
The existing footpath on Church Lane is not expected to close.
