Application submitted for demolition of Friarsgate GP surgery in Winchester after report into roosting bats completed

Civic chiefs had been waiting for the completion of reports into roosting bats in Friarsgate Medical Centre, as reported in the Chronicle.

The council intends to create a new 'pocket park' until the site is eventually redeveloped. The proposal will now be considered by the council's own planning department.

READ MORE HERE: Roosting bats delay the demolition of Friarsgate Medical Centre in Winchester

It said that due to the discovery of a small bat population on the site, it is taking every precaution to minimise the disturbance of any proposed works.

As part of this process, the council has undertaken a bat survey and wider ecology report of the medical centre site and other parts of the surrounding area which are subject to the meanwhile use planning application. This process has identified that bats are roosting in the area and helped to find a solution for relocating them.

The bat survey has been carried out over recent months and the results suggest there are probably two roosts in one of the buildings on site and a single roost in a second building.  It is believed that the bats, no more than two or three, are common pipistrelles and likely to be males or non-breeding females. Similar low numbers of foraging and commuting bats have also been seen on the site, especially near or over the water course. 

New roosts will be created by establishing alternative roosting boxes in trees on council-owned land close by.

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Now these reports are complete, the planning application has been validated and a 21-day public consultation period will commence.

The net result of all the enhancements is a ‘biodiversity net gain of just under 18 percent, compared to the 10 percent target agreed in the Government’s recent Environment Act.

Cllr Martin Tod, Leader of Winchester City Council, said:"The planning application is in. If the plans are agreed, the derelict Friarsgate building will go – and be replaced by an attractive pocket park that isn’t just better for wildlife, but also better for local people – providing a better route through to the city and another step along the way to revitalising the central Winchester area.”