By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter Around 380 rare Canterbury lizards have found a new home in the northern Kaiapoi lakes area. The Canterbury grass skinks were forced to give up their homes to make way for the Woodend Bypass. The NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi completed an ecological survey of the designated route for the Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass, before entering into negotiations with the Waimakariri District Council last year. The agency then engaged Wildlands Consultants Ltd to prepare a lizard management plan, which was required for Department of Conservation approval. The council’s biodiversity team leader, Dr Bex Dollery, said some enhancement work including creating rock piles and wood piles has been carried out to establish a habitat for the lizards. ‘‘Wildlands did a survey and found there was a population of lizards already living in the Kaiapoi lakes, but they found the two populations could co-exist together,’’ Dr Dollery said.…