Bat activity to be monitored at Winspit Quarry
The National Trust is making checks at the Worth Matravers site
Bat swarming activity at Winspit Quarry is being monitored until November – with temporary equipment installed at the site.
Three temporary poles have been agreed for the Worth Matravers quarry on behalf of the National Trust.
The poles, with their static bat detectors, will be removed in December once the scientific work has been completed with holes, drilled into the rock to fit the aluminium poles, then being infilled.
The site is currently, temporarily, closed to the public on safety grounds, but also to protect the resident bat colonies, several species using the site.
No objections to the monitoring proposal were received from Dorset Council’s environment team, Natural England, the Jurassic Coast Heritage Trust or the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team.
Winspit was used as a stone quarry until 1940, before being put to Second Word War use, and opened to the public afterwards by a private owner.
Some have since been closed due to safety issues and in order to protect its bat populations.
The National Trust took over the site in 2022.