Badger protection fencing at Harlow Rugby Club

The original order value of £9,592.10 was to supply and install a bespoke badger protection fence along the boundary between a neighbouring farmer’s woodland and the new Harlow RFC site. Building on a new great relationship, we were able to grow the fencing element of this project and make an impressive impact on the site with quality perimeter solutions.

The Kier Group had purchased Harlow RFC’s old ground so that they could build houses on the plot, with part of the deal ensuring Harlow RFC got a new £5 million purpose built rugby facility at its new location close to Latton Farm managed by Hutton Construction Ltd.

The badger fence installation was designed to protect three live badger setts that the client’s ecologist was rightly passionate to protect. This required a weldmesh infill to be face fixed to the fence’s line wires and bent along its length at 90 degrees to dress ground level. This weldmesh was then turfed to prevent burrowing badgers to suit our client’s requirements. Due to the ecological sensitivity of the project, all works were carried out manually within this area, with no use of mechanical diggers, as not to disturb the sett and/or badgers.

Through relationship building, excellent customer service and impressive delivery we were able to cultivate further works at this site which included timber knee rail, bespoke western red cedar bin and plant stores, timber post and rail fencing, numerous timber field gates and a post and wire screen fence to the site’s water tank. Later on in the project, Ground Control was also granted the wider landscape package.

Challenges

With works needing to be completed manually for ecological reasons, the team experienced some issues with local soil conditions. The heavy clay-like soil prevented the posts from being hand driven so works were suspended. It was later agreed that the posts would be hand dug using insulated digging tools and set with concrete. Although there was a slight setback, the client and ecologist was impressed with our appreciation for the problems caused, and our consideration to the protected species and that we were keen to work with them to discuss and agree solutions