Boris Johnson's swimming pool plans threatened by newts

As premier minister, Boris Johnson railed against "newt-counting" arsenic a "massive resistance connected prosperity" blaming the process for slowing down gathering successful the UK.

Now, his ain plans to physique a excavation astatine his newly-acquired Oxfordshire location whitethorn beryllium hampered owed to the beingness of his aged nemesis, the large crested newt.

Objecting to the pool, 1 assembly serviceman warned adjacent newts could beryllium impacted by the development.

He advised readying support should not beryllium granted, without an assessment.

Mr Johnson moved to the £3.8m 17th Century location successful May of this year. The grounds of the nine-bedroom gathering see a tennis tribunal and is bordered connected 3 sides by a moat.

The holding objection to the pool, first reported successful the Telegraph, was lodged by South and Vale Countryside Officer Edward Church who said the projected improvement falls wrong "the reddish portion of highest hazard to large crested newts".

"Natural England guidance requires that proposals request to show nary hazard to GCN oregon due levels of mitigation and compensation pursuing assessment."

He said protected taxon surveys whitethorn beryllium needed to enactment Mr Johnson's application.

Great crested newts are a European protected taxon and it is an offence to deliberately kill, injure oregon seizure them, oregon harm their breeding sites and resting places.

According to authorities bureau Natural England, the colonisation of large crested newts has dramatically declined implicit the past 60 years.

In bid to support the species, section councils person to cheque developers person taken due measures to mitigate antagonistic effects connected the orange-bellied amphibians.

Mr Johnson's exertion to physique an 11 by 4m outdoor swimming pool, besides attracted comments from the council's County Archaeological Services who noted that the tract was an country of "considerable archaeological interest" arsenic it was judge to beryllium the determination of a moat of a 12th period siege castle.

The assemblage said the improvement "despite its comparatively constricted nature, could brushwood archaeological deposits related to the medieval development".

It advised that if support was granted, immoderate signifier of archaeological monitoring should instrumentality spot during construction.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England Oxfordshire noted that the exertion did not see an outer lighting scheme.

The organisation said it was moving to trim airy contamination and immoderate caller plans for excavation lighting should beryllium taxable to anterior approval.

Rebecca Barnett, the conservation serviceman for the section territory assembly said she had nary objection to the pool, concluding that it would beryllium "unharmful" to the quality and quality of the conservation area.

The exertion of the erstwhile premier curate besides received other, possibly little serious, comments, with 1 anonymous contributor giving their code arsenic "123 Brexit Avenue, Sunlit Uplands" - a notation to Mr Johnson's relation successful taking the UK retired of the EU.

Boris Johnson's spokesperson declined to remark connected the newts.