Client: Willmott Dixon Construction Limited
Site: Exeter College
Aims and Objectives
When Exeter College wanted to go ahead to upgrade and modernise educational facilities on their site, improve access and enhance landscaping they chose to work in partnership with Willmott Dixon to deliver the building project. Due to the presence of asbestos, one of the buildings needed to be demolished and the asbestos urgently taken away for obvious public safety reasons. But there was one small discovery that posed a potentially big delay in the overall project going ahead. And to help solve it, Willmott Dixon contacted Somerset Wildlife Trust Consultancy (SWTC) to get their skills on board.
The small discovery was in fact the presence of one of the UK’s smallest bats - the common pipistrelle. A day roost for this charismatic species was found under a fascia board on the building due to be demolished and then rebuilt. Though surveys undertaken in both 2021 and 2023 showed infrequent use (and possible abandonment), there was still a risk that bats may be encountered during the works. The SWTC team had to make sure that there was no delay to the schedule for the asbestos removal, which would then impact the schedule for the project overall and ensure that if the roost was being used at all by bats they could be relocated safely and without injury into a bat box.
Approach and Outcomes
Willmott Dixon contacted SWTC in March as ecology partner to support the project and SWTC were instantly able to schedule a three month walkover at the site - a visual inspection of the building to make sure nothing had significantly changed that might influence the presence or absence of bats and to confirm the roost type. This enabled the team to confirm to the client that the previous survey results could, with a high degree of certainty, still be relied upon and that no further surveys were required to update existing survey information, which could have caused a further delay to the project.
Bats are a protected species, so with speed of the essence with the upcoming demolition and asbestos removal and working closely with the Willmott Dixon project team via an on-site ’tool-box talk', SWTC submitted a licence application just over a week after the initial walkover and site registration confirmation was received five working days later! The licence mitigation works were then scheduled just a few weeks later once safe access was in place. SWTC were instructed by Willmott Dixon to deliver the work which involved the thorough inspection of the roost features, including the use of endoscopes and then supervision of the soft demolition of the roost feature. No bats were found, however in the event that it might be revisited in the future or a new population found the site four bat boxes were installed on site which are suitable for common pipistrelle.
A win for students and a win for wildlife. SWTC will next be supporting the WiIlmott Dixon team to manage the trees on site so that they are retained and protected in accordance with the arboricultural method statement within the planning application for the new upgraded site.
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