Half a million push for Shropshire hedgehog highways petition

Hugh Warwick, communications officer with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, which is based in south Shropshire, started his petition last year.

Ludlow-based Hugh said: "I’m an ecologist and author and I’ve been studying hedgehogs for over 30 years.

"I know that a key cause of them dying out is that our landscapes are being fenced off into ever smaller fragments.

"We need to make sure new housing developments include ‘hedgehog highways’ - a 13cm hole in the bottom of a fence that allows hedgehogs to move freely between gardens to find food and find a mate.

"This simple move would have a big impact on the UK’s hedgehogs - and it’s cheap and easy for developers to carry out.

"So I’m calling upon government to ensure every new housing development builds in these holes for hedgehog highways. This will allow gardens to be connected, creating the pathways they need to survive. Given that we need many thousands of new homes - this is the perfect time to get the holes built into the fences.

"Already fence manufacturers are being lobbied to provide them - and they are being installed by grateful hedgehog-loving home owners.

"We can’t sit back and let hedgehog numbers keep plummeting. It’s estimated that numbers are already down 95 per cent since the 1950s. We have to act now.

"We know that hedgehog numbers are in steep decline - down 30 per cent in urban areas since the turn of the century, and down 50 per cent in the countryside. And we know that one of the best ways to help hedgehogs is to ensure they can move through the landscape unhindered."

Hugh is now hoping that people power will win and has requested a meeting with the Housing Minister, Kit Malthouse to request that house builders have to provide for hedgehogs in their area as standard.

To sign the petition go to https://www.change.org/p/help-save-britain-s-hedgehogs-with-hedgehog-highways

Hedgehog Awareness Week runs from May 5-11. To find out more go to www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-awareness-week-2019/ or to donate to the #hedgehogweek appeal, go to www.justgiving.com/campaign/HAW19