Successful bat conservation at Graven Hill self-build development

A scheme to protect bats roosting at the site of the UK’s biggest self-build community has been hailed as a success.

A survey undertaken in 2015 as part of plans for the Graven Hill development in Bicester, Oxfordshire, found evidence of bat roosts in abandoned buildings and woodlands.

Graven Hill Village Development Company (GHVDC) had to apply to Natural England for permission to demolish buildings where the legally protected species were found, and take measures to safeguard the bats.

Ecologist Simon Dowell, who helped devise the plan, said: “It’s great that we can provide for ecology alongside development.”