Bat Survey, Mitigation and Licensing for Development Works at House in Hestercombe, near Taunton, Somerset
jh ecology was contacted by the homeowner regarding proposals to convert and extend their house, located on the edge of the Hestercombe Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which constitutes a nationally important lesser horseshoe bat site. We completed a series of bat surveys to identify whether or not bats were using the house for roosting and to identify the species present. Three species of bat were recorded as roosting, including serotine, common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle bats. Mitigation measures were designed and included within the client’s proposals to ensure that roosting sites for the bat species concerned would be retained. We were successful in our application to Natural England for a European Protected Species Mitigation Licence to enable the works to proceed.