Project example
Breedons Court, Pangbourne, Berkshire
Client: Beechcroft Developments Ltd
Contract value: ££10K
Key Services: Baseline bat survey; protected species licensing; mitigation, supervision & monitoring
Heated box inside new garage roof
exterior of new garage with ridge and tile bat access
Temporary outdoor heated bat box on poles
Breedon’s Court was a large modern house and a flat above a set of garages, sited in a wooded garden of approximately 0.6 hectares extent. The development proposals necessitated demolition of both existing buildings, prior to rebuild.
AMA licensed bat ecologists undertook baseline surveys, prepared a European protected species licence application and delivered a very cost-effective mitigation package. Our surveys found droppings from pipistrelle and long-eared bats in both the main house and in the roof spaces above the old garage, and a European Protected Species licence was applied for, which incorporated a range of mitigation measures, such as:
- A temporary solution for loss of a possible pipistrelle maternity roost comprised a heated bat box, sited outside on free-standing poles
- A destructive search of the original buildings was carried out prior to demolition by a licensed bat ecologist, via a ‘soft strip’ of potential roost sites such as hanging and ridge tiles, areas of broken or slipped tiling, and under lead flashing
- A cost-effective, purpose-built bat roost space was incorporated above the new garage block (see photo). Ridge, tile and soffit access points enable bats to readily enter the new roof space
- Once garage construction was complete, the heated bat box was transferred to the interior of the new roost structure (see image)