Environmental Statement volume 4 - Chiltern Evergreen3

Chiltern Line September 2009Bat Dusk and Dawn Surveyand dense scrub. There are also a series of areas composed of arable grassland and mixedwoodland that will be used as site compounds.1.7 The majority of the area immediately surrounding the site comprises arable fields and grazedpasture, with some small area s of wo odland, both mixed and broad-leaved. Towa rds th enorthern end of the su rvey area th ere is a small nature reserve and la rger a reas of den sescrub and u nmanaged grassland. The south ern an d no rthern m ost a reas a re su rroundedmostly by light indust rial and resi dential are as a s they are en capsulated by Oxford andBicester respectively.1.8 There are many potential bat roosts in this area with a great deal of commuting and foragingopportunities, from field hedgerows, tree lines, woodlands, roads, rivers, streams, ponds andthe scrub lined rail line itself, with various rail structures and adjacent buildings.Legislation and Policy1.9 As all species of bat are listed on Schedule 5 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), theyreceive protection under Section 9 of th is Act. This h as been amended several times, mostrecently by the Co untryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, whi ch adde d ‘or recklessly’ toSection 9(4) (a) and (b). In summary, it is a criminal offence to.intentionally kill, injure or take a wild batbe in possession of, or control, any live or dead wild bat or part of, or anything derivedfrom a wild batintentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place that a wildbat uses for shelter or protectionintentionally or re cklessly disturb a ny wild bat whil st it is occup ying a stru cture o rplace that it uses for shelter or protectiontransport for sale or exchange, or offer for sale or exchange a live or de ad bat or anypart of a bat.1.10 All spe cies o f bat are also listed in Schedul e 2 of t he Con servation (Natu ral Habitats, &c. )Regulations (known as t he Ha bitats Regulations) and as such re ceive protection u nderRegulation 39 of these Regulations which make it an offence to:deliberately capture or kill a batdeliberately disturb a batdamage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of a batkeep, transport, sell or exchange, or offer for sale or exchange a live or de ad bat orany part of a bat.1.11 The Conservation (Natu ral Habitats, &c.) (Am endment) Re gulations 2 007 (th e 20 07Regulations) have no w ad ded p rotection to all bat spe cies in A nnex IV ( i.e. a ll Eu ropeanresident spe cies) ma king it an offence to possess, sell or offer or tran sport for sale an yEuropean species of bat or any part d erived from such a sp ecies. Th ese Regulations alsoremove the ‘i ncidental result defence’. In other words it i s no longer a defence to show thatthe killing, capture or disturbance of a speci es covered by the Regulations or the destructionKeystone Environmental 2