The “bat house” was finished by the Costain construction team in January this year and we are really excited that remote detectors sited in the barn have already recorded calls from both lesser and greater horseshoe bats. This is great news and bodes well for future use by bats. Our ongoing crossing point surveys (where bat flight lines cross the route of the A30) have recorded horseshoe bats moving through the site as they move from summer to winter sites and we hope to record them using the barn over the year or so.
CEC are delivering both the bat and badger licensing works for the A30 dualling project. The overall project will replace the 8.7-mile section of single carriageway A30 between Chiverton to Carland Cross with a new dual carriageway. This part of Cornwall is a stronghold for Greater and Lesser horseshoe bats, with them occupying roosts near the site, and commuting across the new road between their spring/summer nursery roost and hibernation sites along the north coast. Previous survey effort has confirmed several buildings being used by these two species and four ‘other’ species using buildings as both day and night roosts. Care has been taken to allow bats to continue to use roosts bordering the route of road but some roosts could not be saved and mitigation was formulated to replace the ‘lost’ roosts with equivalent or improved opportunities. The new bat barn forms a part of the mitigation for bats along the route of the new road.
As part of the mitigation for the project, which places the road through some commuting habitat, a ‘green’ bridge at Marazanvose is being created, plus 11 under-bridges, two over-bridges, five drainage culverts and two dry tunnels – all allowing for the safe passage of animals. CEC have overseen the delivery of a new dedicated bat barn on the site, which is an insulated building with specially designed crevices and open flying spaces to accommodate the needs of different bat species
