Around £4m was spent rehoming badgers, newts, bats and birds so a major motorway project could go ahead.
The £229m A6 Manchester Airport Relief road, the biggest project of its kind in the country, will be a 10km road designed at ease up congestion in many communities including Poynton and will boost links to Macclesfield with a spur leading to the new Poynton Relief Road.
But due to colonies of badgers, birds, bats - and the highly-protected great crested newt, there was a long journey of conservation before a digger could even move in.
Neil Rogers, project director at Morgan Sindall, said it took nine months of delicate manoeuvring by a team of ecologists.
A large bulk of the cash - around £2m - was spent diverting 10 colonies of newts. New ponds were built and newt-proof fencing was erected to prevent their return.
There were also 25 badger sets to relocate - with more than 200 of the critters affected by the move.
For most, the team waited until the right time of year before closing the sets, prompting the badgers to relocate themselves.
But with major sets, replacements had to be built - and the creatures enticed to move with nuts and peanut butter.
Mr Rogers said: “We spent a lot of time to identify where all the species were so all of that was planned into the programme so it’s not been a surprise - but it took a lot of time.
“As well as badgers and newts there were birds, which we could only move birds outside the nesting season so that had to be controlled.
“We also had a lot of potential bat trees - and once that’s identified you have to get a licence to get it inspected and then cut the tree down.
“All the conservation work has cost in the region of £4m so in the whole scheme of things, not a big cost - but it takes time.
“The first nine months of the project was spent looking after the ecology. It’s only really been the last six months we’ve been high speed ahead.”
The new road - between Hazel Grove and the airport - is due for completion in 2017 and will include a cycle track along the entire length.
Meanwhile, work continues to bring the £33m Poynton Relief Road. The two-mile single carriageway also includes improvements to junctions on London Road and Adlington crossroads.
