Renovations to Grade II Listed House

Physon Property

Keystone Ecology were commissioned to undertake surveys and apply for and secure an EPS licence for the renovation of a grade II listed house in Gloucestershire, which included Lesser and Greater Horseshoe summer and hibernation roosts.

What did we do?

Designed and implemented a suite of bat roost activity surveys at a large Grade II listed house located at the edge of the Cotswold escarpment.
Designed and implemented hibernation surveys to establish bat use of the cellar during the winter.
Used baseline bat survey data to assess potential impacts of building conversion and construction/operation of the site as a residential development on resident bat roosts and local bat populations.
Designed an appropriate mitigation/compensation strategy including bespoke conversion of an existing outbuilding into a mitigation unit to ensure maintenance of favourable conservation status.
Applied for and secured as named ecologist on behalf of the developer, a European Protected Species (EPS) licence in respect of bats and the proposed development.

How did we do it?

Careful review of the preliminary bat survey report produced by another consultancy to ensure data could be relied upon.
Undertook 2 dusk and 1 dawn re-entry sessions and two hibernation visits using multiple licensed bat surveyors with extensive experience of complex, building surveys to ensure the collection of robust field data.
Used infrared cameras to identify exit points and automated static detectors to assess hibernation roost use.
Provided the client with regular updates and attended design team meetings to discuss the required mitigation options for inclusion in the EPS licence.

What were the outcomes?

All work was delivered in accordance with the programme and budget supplied to the client at the start of the contract.
An EPS licence was successfully obtained in respect of the proposed development and the hibernation bat roosts will be retained and unaffected by the development.