The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bats put hotel expansion plan at risk
Sir Andy Murray’s plans to expand his luxury five-star hotel could be held up by a large colony of bats.
Plans were unveiled last month to build 27 additional rooms at Cromlix House and a new function suite and tearoom to cope with soaring demand.
Double Wimbledon champion Murray, 30, bought the property near his hometown of Dunblane for £1.8 million in 2013 and it has won a string of awards since reopening the following year.
However, surveys of the buildings earmarked for the extra rooms have revealed more than 130 bats roosting in the area.
Bats are a protected species under UK law and it is illegal to kill, possess or handle them without a licence or to cause them harm or disturb their habitat in any way.
An ecological report submitted to Stirling Council said: “Soprano pipistrelle bats were recorded roosting in the buildings on site during the nocturnal surveys. Common pipistrelle, Daubenton’s and Natterer’s bats were also recorded foraging on site, but no roost sites for these species were confirmed.”
The report states that the hotel will need to obtain a licence from Scottish Natural Heritage and implement mitigation measures to protect the bats before work can be carried out.
It also recommends that access holes should be constructed on the roof of the newly refurbished buildings to allow bats to enter the loft space and bat boxes should be installed in the grounds during building work.
Work may also be banned in some areas during summer months as maternity roosts were found where female bats have their babies during that period.
Sue Sexton, of the Scottish Wildlife Trust Stirling and Clackmannanshire group, said: “It was encouraging to see that a thorough bat survey had been done as part of this application.
“The site is clearly important for at least two species of bat with a number of roosts including maternity roosts. We very much hope that the recommendations of the report will be included in the conditions of approval if approval is granted.”
The planning applications for Cromlix House have gone out to public consultation and officials at Stirling Council are expected to make a decision on them by June.