FROXFIELD villagers will have to wait for a survey of dormice and bats before work can begin to repair Stoner Hill and reopen the vital link to Petersfield. But Hampshire County Council engineers still hope that construction work will begin in August and take 12 weeks to complete. The county council's executive member for environment, Tim Knight, reported this week: "Much has been going on behind the scenes since the public meeting in May. "Site meetings and discussions have taken place with representatives from English Nature to determine the impact of the proposed works on the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and what measures may be required to mitigate those impacts. "Having undertaken a preliminary assessment of the site, English Nature has now requested that detailed surveys be undertaken for a number of protected species, which it believes live within the affected area, notably dormice and bats. "Our consultants, Mott Gifford, have been commissioned to undertake these surveys as a matter of urgency. "Only once the results of these surveys are known, will English Nature be able to comment on the suitability of the County Council's proposals, and suggest any mitigation measures that may be required. "As Stoner Hill is also situated within the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), details of the proposed remedial works have been forwarded to the East Hampshire and Sussex Downs AONB Joint Committee. "Fortunately, the committee has indicated that it's unlikely to impose any conditions on the works over and above those required by English Nature. "Discussions have also taken place with the Environment Agency (EA), regarding the potential effect of the works on groundwater within the area, and have indicated that formal EA consent will not be required in this case, which should help expedite matters." Mr Knight said the preliminary design of the remedial works (the steel sheet-pile wall to support the failed sections of highway) was now sufficiently advanced to enable the county council's nominated contractor, Dean and Dyball, to begin planning, and to check the availability of any specialist plant and materials that would be required. "Additional boreholes are to be drilled during the coming week. "Again, our designers are in consultation with English Nature regarding some aspects of the design, such as the timber cladding to be fixed to the exposed face of the sheet-pile wall, and measures for dealing with surface water drainage, to ensure that any environmental impacts are minimised. "While the precise programme for the start and completion of the works will not be known until the protected- species surveys have been completed and the results analysed by English Nature, we are still anticipating that construction work will begin during August, and will take approximately 12 weeks to complete. "To help ensure that all villagers affected are kept up to date with the latest developments, the county council is currently developing a web page dedicated to the Stoner Hill scheme. "This will appear on Hantsweb, http://www.hants">www.hants. gov.uk, within the next two weeks, and will be updated on a weekly basis."
