An enormous bug hotel has been installed at a Leeds housing development helping to provide new homes for both wildlife and people.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey Yorkshire commissioned Wildlife and Birdcare Nature recovery project (CIC) to provide the giant 2m by 4m bug hotel for their development at Morwick Springs, in Leeds Road. The design also includes the initials MS to add a touch of style to the centrepiece.

Morwick Springs will provide 293 homes, including one, two, three and four-bedroom properties, on the East Leeds Extension (ELE), a major development of new homes and community facilities around the new East Leeds Orbital Route.

Social enterprise Wildlife and Birdcare Nature recovery project works to care for nature and people, supporting those with additional needs into employment. It has an 8,000 sq ft warehouse in Longton, Staffordshire, split into teaching, printing and carpentry zones, creating wood products that support various creatures, including hedgehogs, squirrels, birds, bats, owls and bugs.

It works with people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs, aged 19 to 25 years, as well as supporting ex-forces personnel returning to civilian work, especially those struggling with PTSD or amputation.

Sammy Holman, Autistic CEO of Wildlife and Birdcare Nature recovery project (CIC), said: “Our ethos is to connect nature with people. Our larch bug hotels are educational study centres that attract such insects as lacewings, butterflies, bees, crawly insects, spiders, earwigs, beetles and woodlice.

“When you look at the biodiversity of the land, it is the small things that help run the planet, are part of our natural eco system and it is our job to save and protect them. Therefore, we encourage the new community at Morwick Springs to also make their gardens nature rich.”

Lucinda Dickens, Sales and Marketing Director at Taylor Wimpey Yorkshire, said: “In building new homes, we are creating new communities and what better way to support all communities, including insects, than by installing such an incredible bug hotel. We hope our residents enjoy not just the beauty of the piece, but also what it is doing to support local wildlife.”

Morwick Springs, which has three showhomes, is also the first gas free development for Taylor Wimpey Yorkshire, with all homes benefitting from air source heat pumps, as well as energy saving features such as triple glazing, waste water heat recovery and EV charging points.