Council reluctantly willing to pay for bat protection measures if it saves North Hykeham Relief Road
The project has come under scrutiny over the additional costs needed to protect bats
The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has said he’s willing to pay for bat protection measures for the North Hykeham Relief Road if it stops the project from being delayed.
Coun Sean Matthews (Reform UK) told councillors at a meeting on September 12 that he didn’t want to pay for more £4 million for the measures but would do if it saves the county council extra costs in delays in completing the relief road.
The project has come under scrutiny over the additional costs needed to protect bats when the road is built.
Natural England said it has identified a rare breed of bat, the barbastelle bat, in the project’s route.
It said that a ‘bat bridge’ must be put in place on a grassed-over bridge near the South Hykeham section of the road to ensure that the bats don’t fly into traffic.
But the Reform-led administration at Lincolnshire County Council has said it doesn’t believe these measures are value for money and is in discussions with Natural England to try to avoid paying for them.
The county council said the project was initially meant to cost between £180m and then £208m but will now cost between £203m and £218m, because of the bat measures and additional drainage infrastructure which Anglian Water has asked it to install.
Coun Matthews said the bat measures alone would cost the county council £4.3 million.
He said: “There are times when we will disagree in this chamber but we will not delay this project.
“I’m looking at ways to get on with this project. At the end of the day, I really envy these bat measures but if we have to pay for this to so that millions of pounds in delays, then of course we will do that.
“I genuinely think there is a way out of this but I will not risk delaying this project.”