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Registered Charity No 443
Report date: 5 April 2024 Author: Kevin Wells Prepared for: Richard Kelly 27b Old Castletown Road Douglas IM1 5AW Ref:- KPW – 23/00799/B
This report has been prepared following the Bat Conservation Trust’s guidelines contained in Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists: Good Practice Guidelines (3rd edition), 2016.
The author holds a Bat License issued by DEFA in the Isle of Man
Contents
Manx Bat Group were engaged to carry out a bat survey for planning application 23/00799/B. The application is for demolition of the current 2-story building and construction of new building on the same site. Whilst the site has possibilities, the property itself has no indications of use and therefore no further surveys are recommended. It also to be noted that the owner of the property has already installed 2 bat boxes on a tree on the site.
The DEFA Eco Policy officer has, due to the suitability of the surrounding area for bats, requested a preliminary survey to decide if the site is currently or has previously been used by roosting bats, and if so what further surveys would be required. This has been added to the planning application conditions.
The site is seen in the satellite image below as indicated by the blue arrow. The property is situated behind the electric tramline to the Southern side of Bibaloe Beg Road where it meets King Edward Road. The property is surrounded by many mature broad leaf trees, although there are several Ash trees within the grounds that are looking unhealthy.
The property is constructed of brick with wood beams, render and tiles to the upper floors and apexes. The roof is red flat square tiles laid in a diamond pattern. There is a single storey section attached to the north west corner and a large conservatory to the west side
View from Front of house looking East
View from South of House looking North
View from Babaloe Beg Road looking South
Previous evidence of bat activity The Manx Bat Group database has records of bat roosts in nearby Groudle Glen.
A daylight inspection of the building from the outside he property on the early evening of Wednesday 24th March, using high powered binoculars for the exterior and a high-powered torch inside where required.
Building inspection
The property is in a poor state of repair throughout with a couple of places on the roof having missing tiles and a complete missing window on the 2nd floor above the conservatory. The rendering on the chimney stacks was falling away (see pictures below).
When inspecting the interior of the building, no evidence of bats discovered in any of the rooms. When inspecting the loft space, it was noted that the underside of the tiles was boarded above the roof joists with the tiles being laid directly on top of these boards leaving no void for bats to use. The loft space was also completely filled with cobwebs making it unsuitable for bats. Again, there was no physical evidence of bats (droppings) in the loft space.
The dwelling shows no evidence of being used by bats either currently or in the past. It is therefore felt that no further surveys are required and that the demolition can proceed.
The owner has already installed 2 bat boxes to a large tree to the south of the property and has been advised of a better placement of one of these (they were checked and are not currently being use, so can be moved).
Due to the surrounding trees making the area suitable for bat activity area, careful consideration should be given to lighting, both internal and external to the development. Light spread from the interior should be kept to a minimum and any exterior lighting should be downward facing. Further information for lighting can be found in the BCT’s web site at https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/buildings-planning-and-development/lighting which has links to two guides, ‘Bats and Artificial Lighting in the UK’ guidance document and the ‘Eurobats guidance on bats and artificial light (2018)’ document.
The owners could also consider installing some bat boxes or bat cavity bricks into the development.
The findings and conclusions presented above are based strictly on the evidence available at the time of the investigation. It is not possible for this site to rule out completely the possible presence of bats at some time in the future. All bat species, and their roost sites, are protected under the Wildlife Act, 1990. In the event that bats are encountered during the course of demolition or development works, then work must stop immediately and the staff at DEFA must be contacted for advice before proceeding.
It should be noted that any bat related data gathered during the course of this survey will be held on a database by the Manx Bat Group and could ultimately be shared with our biodiversity partners in the Isle of Man and United Kingdom.
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