Badger Sett Creation and Licensing in Warrington
During 2025-2026, our team worked on a project in Warrington to facilitate the closure of an existing main badger sett. This required a carefully planned mitigation strategy to ensure the local badger clan had a suitable alternative before the original sett was closed.
Creating an artificial sett was central to the project, but we also needed to identify an appropriate location and demonstrate that the badgers had found and were consistently using it.
Collington Winter Environmental provides specialist ecological support for projects involving badger setts, including Natural England licence applications where closure or disturbance is required.
The challenge
Badgers are protected under UK legislation, and activities that disturb badgers or interfere with their setts may require a licence from Natural England.
The key challenge was to identify a suitable alternative location, construct a replacement sett and gather evidence that the local badger clan had adopted it before closing the existing main sett. Careful planning and monitoring were essential to support the proposed works and meet the relevant licensing requirements.
Our approach
Bait marking surveys – CWE carried out bait marking surveys to help establish the movement patterns and territory of the local badger clan. The findings helped our ecologists identify a suitable location for the artificial sett, informed by evidence of the clan’s activity.
Artificial sett construction – Once a suitable location had been identified, we created a new artificial badger sett in Warrington. This provided an alternative location for the animals ahead of the planned closure of their existing sett.
Monitoring and verification – Following construction, CWE monitored the new sett to establish whether the badgers had located it and were using it consistently. This stage was essential to demonstrate that the mitigation was working before the existing sett could be closed.
Licensing support – The survey findings, construction and monitoring formed part of the wider process supporting the proposed sett closure. Where required, CWE assists with Natural England licence applications and advises on the implementation of licensed works in accordance with the relevant conditions and ecological safeguards.
The outcome
The project established a new artificial badger sett as mitigation for the proposed closure of the existing main sett.
By combining bait marking surveys, careful site selection, construction and monitoring, Collington Winter Environmental supported a considered approach to badger mitigation. Importantly, the process focused not simply on providing a replacement sett, but on gathering evidence that the local badger clan was using it before the original sett could be closed.
If you are planning work that could affect a badger sett, contact our team today using the information below and find out how we can help.
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