Bat Survey - Hospital, Neath
Background
This summer, we conducted a series of surveys for some urgent roof repair works that needed to be completed prior to the autumn and winter where heavier rain may lead to water ingress and damage.
Due to the location of the repairs and constant use of the hospital, a scoping survey was unable to be undertaken, so we went straight to the emergence surveys.
Survey Results
Staff at the hospital were already aware of bats roosting at the hospital, but not near the section of the roof that was in need of repairs. We investigated this separate part of the building and documented a maternity colony of pipistrelle bats, containing over 80 individuals.
Most of the bat activity during the surveys was of course concentrated around this roost, but we identified two additional roosting areas - each with a single pipistrelle bat. It is possible these are satellite roosts - a secondary roost located closely to the primary roost, used by small numbers of bats when the primary roost is at capacity.
Licence & Mitigation
Thankfully, as the primary roost will not be affected by the building works, the population of bats in this area will not be affected by the re-roofing. In fact, they are going to benefit! As part of our licence application, we are going to install access tiles and ridge tile gaps into the new roof, so bats in this area have extra options for sanctuary.
