Road reopening halted by badgers
31 May 2007 - BBC News
Badgers have held up the reopening of the road Works to reopen the main road
between Langholm and Lockerbie have been delayed by badgers. The B7068 was
closed before Christmas after a landslide at Scroggs Bridge and lengthy
diversions put in place. A council spokesman confirmed that work had ground to
halt after a badger sett was found under the route of the works. Dumfriesshire
MP David Mundell has voiced concerns that a project which should have taken
weeks has now been ongoing for nearly six months. Works were forced to stop when
the animals' underground home was discovered.
Dumfries and Galloway Council said it has had to work with Scottish Natural
Heritage to rehouse the badgers. This has involved constructing a man-made sett
in the hope that they will move home. "Until such time as it is deemed that all
badger cubs have left the existing sett, we cannot excavate anywhere near where
they live," confirmed local services group manager Ronnie Dempster.
However, Mr Mundell said that while he understood there had been problems
with the works there was no excuse for the length of delay. "I appreciate that
work was delayed because of the discovery of a badgers' sett and land ownership
issues," he said. "But from an initial indication that the road would be closed
for weeks it has now been months and currently there is no end date in sight.
This is causing a lot of difficulties for individuals and local businesses,
particularly hauliers, and also it is causing inconvenience for people living on
the diverted traffic routes."
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