Councillors Sue Woodward and Sharon Banevicius with ranger Rob Taylor on land used by deer near the development in Burntwood

Rangers and councillors in Burntwood are pushing for steps to prevent deer deaths on local roads.

The plight of the animals was highlighted on an edition of BBC Springwatch this week.

Now ranger Rob Taylor and local Labour councillors are pressing Taylor Wimpey, the company developing the housing sites alongside the Burntwood bypass, to help in finding a way to prevent the deer from wandering onto nearby roads..

Councillors Sue Woodward and Sharon Banevicius with ranger Rob Taylor on land used by deer near the development in Burntwood
Councillors Sue Woodward and Sharon Banevicius with ranger Rob Taylor on land used by deer near the development in Burntwood

Cllr Sue Woodward, Staffordshire County Council member for Burntwood North, said: “It’s amazing to see so many deer coming into the town and particularly onto the development site.

“We all love to see them but we must be conscious of the safety of these lovely animals and also the safety of drivers and passengers.

“There have been numerous near-misses as traffic has slowed down to watch the deer and, just this week, I heard the sad news of a deer having to be put down because of injuries suffered in a collision.

“We hope that Taylor Wimpey will consider putting some funding towards the deterrents we are proposing and feel that it would be greatly welcomed by local residents.

“The initial response from Taylor Wimpey sounds very positive, for which we are grateful, and I hope we will be able to secure the £2,000 to £3000 funding we need.”

The plan will see crossing guard devices which are activated by passing headlights. They give off a sound which stops the deer approaching the road.

Cllr Sharon Banevicius, Lichfield District Council member for Chasetown ward, added: “We need to make sure that we are looking after the deer and also looking after the safety and wellbeing of drivers and of local residents.

“The deer have been displaced from their usual haunts by the building work and are now coming into gardens in Chasetown so some sort of humane deterrent is vital.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.

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Rob
7 years ago

If misguided townies stopped feeding them carrots it would be a start.

Taylor
7 years ago

Hope the council planners, actually put something in the agreement to make Taylor Scrimpy, complete the development, to a standard, to allow adoption.

I live on a Taylor Scrimpy development many years after completion, not adopted, never cleaned, dog fouling everywhere, fences down, dead trees…… nothing council can do. Nothing your MP can do. You have to wait for Taylor Scrimpy to open their wallet. Once they have completed the development, they are not interested.