New home for bats to be built in Sherford
The bat house is required under measures to improve the ecology of the area
Bats are to get a purpose-built home as a result of the Sherford new town development near Plymouth.
The barn-style building will have walls made from blocks with timber cladding and a tiled roof with gaps to allow the creatures to fly in.
The bat house is required under measures to improve the ecology of the area following the development.
It has now been approved under planning permission for a field to become part of a new community park.
The three-hectare field is behind properties on Sherford Road in Elburton and is to the south of the main Sherford development site, next to the recently opened first phase of the community park.
Plymouth City Council has granted conditional approval for landscaping, new woodland planting, paths and fencing at the field, as well as the 3metre by 5metre bat house.
To the east are further sections of the park approved by South Hams Council.
The land forms part of a 200-hectare country park set out in the masterplan for the new town of around 5,500 homes.
Work has recently been completed at Sherford on Old Boundary Park within the town, marking the point where the boundaries of Plymouth and the South Hams meet.
The Sherford Consortium has created a new stone-faced hedge bank to mark the historic boundary.