Roles

Land and property owners /managers:

• Protect and avoid harm to bat roosts, especially when undertaking work.
• Maintain, restore and create habitat and roost features to support bats
• Avoid artificially illuminating bat roosting features and commuting/feeding areas

Barnsley Council as planning authority:

• Requires bat surveys to inform decisions on relevant planning applications
• Sets conditions to ensure that bats and roosts are protected and that habitats for bats are maintained and enhanced.
• Publicises legal requirement to protect bat roosts when undertaking development, applying for planning permission, or providing notification of permitted development or intended demolition.

Natural England requires and provides licences for development work when bats or their roosts are present.

Police wildlife crime officers investigate offences involving bats or bat roosts, and can take people to court.

South Yorkshire Bat Group (SYBG) is active in Barnsley undertaking research, monitoring roosts and promoting the conservation of bats and their habitats. They maintain a database of bat records and are a good local source of advice and information. The Bat Conservation Trust is the national body.

Local naturalists and volunteers provide records and help with conservation. SYBG can provide details of how to join activities which require a licence.

Bat Species. Key Objectives

• Raise awareness of the legal protection for bats and the need for their conservation
• Encourage public involvement in bat conservation and in providing suitable places for roosts and foraging.
• Analyse records of bat species across Barnsley to identify and review sites where they forage or have maternity or hibernation roosts.
• Survey sites to record bat species and populations in order to identify
• new roost sites and feeding areas
• future site protection and habitat enhancement.
• Undertake regular monitoring of a number of roosts and feeding sites, including for the National Bat Monitoring Programme
• Support Local Wildlife Site designation of sites with significant* bat roosts or habitat areas. [*See definition of significant under sites]
• Work with owners to establish conservation management of priority sites to bring them into favourable condition for bat species.

What is being done?

SYBG activities

• Regular monitoring of a number of sites for National Bat Monitoring Programme.
• Ongoing survey work to identify new roost sites and feeding areas.
• Providing advice to property owners where bat roosts are present
• Monitoring of bat box schemes at Barnsley Crematorium, RSPB old Moor and Wentworth Castle Gardens
• Following SYBG surveys, designation of Romtickle Viaduct and Thurgoland Tunnel as LWS. 2016. Continued annual surveys
• …

Proposed Actions

• Increase voluntary activity by recruiting and training more bat workers
• Expand the numbers of guided walks when more volunteers are available.
• Campaign to encourage property owners to have bat surveys, put up bat boxes and improve conditions for bats.
• Work with developers to seek installation of integrated bat (or bird) boxes in newly built dwellings in the borough
• Identify important feeding areas and roost sites for bats, and promote their protection and conservation.
• Consider use of bat survey triggers to identify planning applications which require bat surveys at the earliest possible stage,

Marking Progress

• Maintenance and improvement of bat species populations.
• Roosts identified and protected in Planning Application conditions.
• Integrated bat boxes in newly built dwellings and/or other development
• Sites designated as Local Wildlife Sites for bat conservation
• Local Wildlife Sites in positive conservation management for bats

Bat Species Actions