CONCERNS have been raised for a long-established family of badgers if another housing development in Winsford gets the green light. 

The proposed new development of 12 homes on a former private golf course off Littler Lane is currently being considered by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The presence of badgers on the site, including several live setts, has been confirmed by experts from the Wirral and Cheshire Badger Group.

The ‘golf course’ family is well known to residents, who often put out food for them, including peanuts and bananas, to supplement their usual diet of worms and grubs.

One resident, Helena Conlon, says this has been a lifeline for them, as Taylor Wimpey's recently completed 550-home Spring Croft housing development has already reduced the family’s foraging grounds to a fraction of what they once were.

She says if the proposed 12-home development on Littler Lane goes ahead, this will reduce their foraging grounds even further, leaving them no choice but to enter people's gardens and cause damage, as the family will be 'effectively corralled’.

Northwich Guardian: The 'golf course family' visit Michelle Axon's garden, which backs on to the proposed development site, every night The 'golf course family' visit Michelle Axon's garden, which backs on to the proposed development site, every night (Image: Michelle Axon)

Helena said: “We're here to stop more destruction happening.

“There is currently more badger activity in this area, suggesting the golf course family have already migrated there from the main sett due to the lack of natural feeding ground.

“If the proposed building works go ahead, the golf course badgers will be forced to move back to their original sett as they will be effectively corralled.

“This will put pressure on the original sett, and on the human residents.

“We’ve already seen a huge loss of feeding ground for the badgers, who have been foraging in this area far longer than any humans have been living here.

“The plans seem to suggest they will no longer be able to live in the area. But where are they going to go?

“If they are forced back to the original sett, this is only going to exacerbate the problem.”

Residents have formed a badger watch group of 45 households who use covert cameras to ensure the badgers aren’t disturbed.

Group member, Michelle Axon, said: “We’re doing everything we can for the badgers.

"My husband loves to film them, and we feed them a bunch of bananas every night. They much prefer them if they're peeled. 

“This used to be the countryside, but it’s not any more.

“People from cities like Manchester move into these new developments to find their rural idyll, but this used to be our rural idyll.  

"It all comes at a real cost for existing residents, and for our wonderful wildlife.”

Diana Wanless, of the Wirral and Cheshire Badger Group, said: “We see a lot of pressure on badgers, and I haven’t seen any developments that are good.

"I can say this for sure: If the Littler’s Lane development goes ahead as planned, those badgers will not survive. Not with the amount of foraging that will be left.

"They need more land than that."