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Manor House Restoration

18th Century Property – Scottish Borders.

Project Background:

The owners of the property were seeking to carry out a full and extensive renovation and restoration of the 18th century property. The majority of the building had been unused for years but continually heated. An initial preliminary building assessment was undertaken which identified the presence of bats within the property. S.A.P Ecology were commissioned to carry out bat activity surveys on the property to confirm the species and number of bats roosting within the property.

What we did:

Carried out preliminary building assessment to assess the buildings potential to support roosting bats;
Carried out a suite of bat activity surveys on the building to identify bat roosts;
Produced full and comprehensive reports detailing results of all surveys and species-specific recommendations and mitigation;
Liaise with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and completed the application for a protected species licence for works affecting bats;
Provided Ecological Clerk of Works on site for licenced activities.

The Outcome:

An EPSL was attained from SNH to allow the destruction of the known bat roosts, and to allow external restoration work to be undertaken in the winter months of October 2018 – April 2019;
Schwegler bat boxes were erected on the southern aspects of nearby mature trees, to provide alternative roosting opportunities as compensation for loss of roosting features.
Roost entrances were fitted with exclusion devices to stop bats returning to roosts at the end of the summer period.

A roof strip of the building is scheduled for 2019, which will be completed under a watching brief. During which the existing entrances will be mapped and following the completion of all works in 2020, both maternity roosts will be reinstated.

Testimonial

I am so grateful to Sarah, Stephen and the team at S.A.P for all their help and support. I certainly recommend their services to anyone who needs them! They made what was, at times, a stressful and trying situation, interesting and bearable!

Pam Maitland - Castle Douglas