A Forest of Dean housing development has been named Merlin Gate, after falcons at the International Centre for Birds of Prey in Newent.
The housebuilders, Barratt and David Wilson Homes, have donated £1,000 to the centre to sponsor a merlin named Windward, and have officially named the new development after him.
The roads around the new housing development will also be named after other bird of prey species.
The new Merlin Gate development will create 230 new homes and two new play areas, with construction of the site supporting up to 700 jobs for people in the local community. It is also donating £85,000 to promote sustainable travel in the area and £45,000 to local libraries.
Sales director for Barratt Homes South Wales, Richard Lawson, said: ‘Celebrating and protecting wildlife on and around our developments is hugely important to us at Barratt Homes, so we’re really proud to be able to reflect that in the name of this new community now under construction in Newent and to support the International Centre for Birds of Prey.’
Director at the International Centre for Birds of Prey, Jemima Parry-Jones, said: ‘We’re very grateful to Barratt David Wilson Homes for the generous donation and sponsorship of our newest flight team member.
‘We are working hard to raise funds to continue conserving and protecting vulnerable birds of prey both here and overseas, and to offer members of the public the chance to know and love them as we do. So, it’s even more exciting that a whole new community here in Newent will carry the name of the merlin. We look forward to welcoming the new residents of Merlin Gate to our centre.’
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