A World Gone Mad
Due to European Union environmental regulations as well as British law subservient to those rules, a local council in Britain had to spend a little money to relocate four newts before a building project could go forward. How little a sum, you ask?
£60,000. To move four newts which are locally plentiful.
Legislation protecting an endangered species of newt is to be challenged after a council was forced to spend £60,000 moving four of the creatures.
Officials at Cheshire County Council are writing to the Government and European Union chiefs to challenge the rules governing great crested newts.
Councillor Barrie Hardern, who has written to Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said the newts had to be given a new habitat as a part of a planning application for building work at Fallibroome High School in Macclesfield.
He said: "Around £15,000 per newt seems a ludicrous sum of money to me.
"They are a legally protected species under EU regulations because there are parts of Europe where they are quite rare.
"However, in Cheshire we have in the order of 16,000 ponds and newts are widespread and locally abundant.
"The EU regulations together with UK legislation carry substantial fines if we do not protect the newts as part of planning applications. I am very concerned about taxpayers' money being used in this way."
There are an estimated 400,000 of that particular species of newt in Britain. Around $120,000 of taxpayer's money thrown away to send four of the newts to a new location.
Utter madness.
Animals, Insanity, World news | Gaius Saturday, 16 February , 2008
By Jim, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 1:23 pm
Gee, that’s newts to me.
By JonSK, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 2:17 pm
£60,000 to move four newts? I’d do it for half that.