The Challenge
The owner of a car sales and workshop contacted us regarding the planning application to demolish the car workshop and develop a convenience store. The site is within Band C of the North Somerset and Mendip SAC so the potential for impacts on horseshoe bat species were noted by the planning authority.
The Solution
We carried out an urgent building inspection towards the end of the peak bat survey window and found the building to be of low potential to support roosting bats. The site also provided a range of nesting bird habitat, including within the building and a small patch of unmanaged scrub.
A single dusk emergence survey undertaken later that week found no bats to be using the building and a brief report was subsequently prepared.
Progress and Results
The site has now been granted full planning permission with no conditions relating to ecology.