Bats are the only flying mammals, and together with birds are the only flying vertebrates. Unfortunately, in Britain they are either endangered or actually threatened by extinction.

Bat numbers have declined by around 70% since the 1970’s. Key factors in their decline include loss of habitat, farm and garden insecticides and persecution by humans who don’t understand the true nature of bats.

All species of bat in Britain are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal intentionally to kill, injure or take any bat, to disturb roosting bats or to damage, destroy or obstruct access to any place used by bats for roosting.

There are 17 species of bat living in Britain. Bats are extremely manoeuvrable in flight and are not blind. They use ultrasonic echolocation to avoid obstructions while flying in the dark, to find their way to and from their roost and to home in on their prey.     A Pipistrelle bat, which is one of the smallest, can fit into a match box when its wings are folded, but it can also consume 3000 insects per night. Most of these insects are mosquitoes and midges so bats make the world a more hospitable place for the rest of us!

Bats hibernate in the winter and have just a single offspring each year. They can live for up to 30 years.

There are many good areas for bats in and around Berkhamsted. The area at the top of Durrants Lane and along Shootersway is rich in bats. Half an hour after sunset is the best time to see or detect them. They fly freely along the edges of the tall trees hunting for insects. As well as flying along the edges of the roads they can be detected flying down the edges of the copses in the fields and at the corner of Coppins Close. Most of the bats detected are Pipistrelles, but it is likely that there are other species as well.

It is very important to identify the roosts and hibernating places of our local bats but as they hibernate from November until March, further investigation will now need to be delayed until April 2010. To conduct a survey in your local area all that is required is a simple bat detector. I use the Magenta Bat5 Detector but any similar device is likely to work just as well.

Bats form a critical part of the ecological cycle and we should all work to ensure that any housing development is sympathetic to maintaining their natural habitat. The starting point is to first establish their existence so good luck with those surveys!

In early August 2009 some Berkhamsted residents became aware of the ongoing consultation being run by Dacorum Borough Council canvassing opinion on a series of proposals laid out in The Emerging Core Strategy, a document prepared by the council in response to The East of England Plan. A flyer was hastily prepared and distributed to a number of homes which would bear the brunt of development associated with the council’s proposals.

The reaction was immediate and resulted in a meeting being held for any residents interested in learning more about the proposed developments. Our initial priority was to bring these proposals to the attention of as many local residents as possible and encourage them to respond to the council prior to the consultation deadline of 28 August. A programme of knocking on doors was established, providing copies of questionnaires and other information to residents who, for the most part, were completely unaware of the ongoing consultation and scale of proposed development.

The depth of outrage at the council’s proposals which we experienced on the doorstep led to the creation of Save Your Berkhamsted and a determination to leave no stone unturned to ensure local views and concerns were heard.

We lobbied Berkhamsted Town Council and managed to force an amendment to their meeting agenda of 24 August 2009 thereby securing an opportunity to air our views and impress upon them the need for a strong response to the Borough council’s proposals. In the 3 weeks leading up to the meeting, our doorstep canvassers spoke with between 5% and 10% of the town’s residents and all responses were firmly against the proposals. More than 2 dozen residents attended the town council meeting and I spoke out on behalf of those residents outlining a series of objections to the proposed developments. The Gazette ran an article (26 August 2009) on this meeting and have since published several letters from angry residents citing their objection to the proposals and criticising Dacorum Borough Council for both the timing of the consultation period and lack of publicity surrounding such a fundamental issue.

Following publication of the Town Council’s response to DBC’s proposals it is clear that our initial efforts have borne fruit since the issues mentioned in their leaflet mirror the fundamental objections raised by us at the August meeting!

This is just the beginning – from here we intend to quantify (via our on-line petition) Berkhamsted residents’ objection to the proposals and insist Herts County Council, via Dacorum Borough Council, take these into account when finalising their proposals for development across Hertfordshire. We are currently conducting bio-diversity studies across the town, reviewing pre-existing covenants and collating information which will help in our efforts to ensure Berkhamsted retains its inherent charm and rural feel.

You can show your support either by leaving a comment below or by signing our on-line petition. Whilst any support is welcomed, signing our petition will enable us to quantify the level of support we have when we approach the council, so we would kindly ask that you take a few moments to add your name to the list.