The Tufa Field is adjacent to and currently extends the separate and privately-owned Stirtingale Farm SNCI (Site of  Nature Conservation Interest).  The apron of the field is hunting ground for the SNCI’s Owls, Buzzards, and Foxes, and feeding and breeding  grounds for the SNCI’s Bats, Reptiles, Badgers and a host of small mammals and amphibians.

While SNCIs can be built upon, developers must show that there is no practical alternative and replace the lost area with another area of at least the same Conservation Status.

The trees of Stirtingale Farm form part of the Bath Skyline, a protected area designed to enhance the views from the city centre.

Here is the map from BATHNES, showing the Nature Conservation Area subject to Policy NE3 at January 2021. The Tufa Field is the topmost shaded section.The boundaries are domestic gardens.

 

 

The Tufa Field is home to 2 Badger setts on site , and another just in the woods in the picture above.

Eastern Badger Sett

Placing a plastic reptile fence across a Badger’s feeding run is futile.

Historical note:

From 1898 to 1930, Stirtingale Farm housed the Bladud Golf Club on land now occupied by housing around Corston View.