Sedgemoor District Council has placed a number of strict conditions on a developer who plans to demolish this former Berrow care home in order to preserve a colony of bats.
Full planning consent has been granted to Elderfield Developments for 12 two and three bed dwellings in place of the former Little Court Nursing Home at Pinnockscroft, pictured.
However, the council has also placed a number of conditions on the development following the discovery of a colony of bats, which are a legally protected species.
It has requested that demolition work be undertaken between October and March in order to mitigate the impact of the development.
Two bat roosting facilities must be installed into the top of the gable end of the southeast or southwest facing elevations and two tree-mounted bat boxes must attached to mature trees around the site or within the wooded copse.
“In the event that a bat is found during dismantling of the buildings, all works must cease immediately and a suitably qualified ecologist must be contacted to provide advice,” adds the council.
It goes on to request that tiles should be removed from the site by hand, each one checked for bats clinging to the underside, before being put down.
The council has also requested that all timber treatments required to maintain the roof should be ‘bat friendly’.
