advice submitted by CCW and MWT.The district council said that legal protection of bats was not as important as the local issues of housing and providing job opportunities.
Wales.This was done, just in time, before the decision of the local planning committee had become operative.
Wales decided that planning permission should be refused.
In reaching the decision it was recognised that more than local issues were at stake and that the government had a duty to respect both national legislation and the obligation to international agreements relating to bats.This was the first ever public inquiry at which bats were the key issue.
Welshpool, Powys (formerly Montgomeryshire),Wales, came under threat from development proposals.The owner was seeking planning permission to convert the buildings into six flats.This would have considerably reduced the extent of roosting space used by the bats.While space in the small clock turret would have remained, this would not have been adequate to ensure the survival of the breeding colony of up to 70 lesser horseshoe bats the colony was one of only five in the former county of Montgomeryshire.
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (MWT) assessed the requirements for the roost and advised that if the proposed scheme were reduced to five dwelling units the lesser horseshoe bats would not be threatened.