Whose Bat Tunnel?

EWR Co.’s Southern Approach to Cambridge involves the construction of embankments and viaducts between where our Wimpole Barbastelle Bats breed, sleep and where they forage for moths. If the railway blocks the route between these places, then these rare bats would starve.

EWR Co. recognise this and in addition to extensive survey work they have also proposed designs for bat bridges and underpasses. It helps that they have a legal obligation to demonstrate that their railway would not adversely affect the highly protected Eversden and Wimpole Special Area of Conservation.

Little was known about the behaviour of  Barbastelle Bats until they were extensively studied and reported on in a 2012 Journal Paper by Matt Zeale.  The study makes clear that during twilight the bats follow common flight lines along hedgerows and tree lines. If green bridges and underpasses were carefully placed, then one could imagine that the bats might be able to pass over or under the railway.

However, Matt Zeale’s paper contains the following statements: ‘On leaving woodland roost sites, bats initially made use of treelines and hedgerows for commuting but moved freely across open landscapes thereafter. … Return commutes were fast and direct, with no apparent use of linear landscape features.’ The paper also explains that each bat has its own foraging area to which it returns each night. If you stop and think about this for a moment it means that these bats are currently crossing the line of the proposed railway all over the place. This in turn means that crossing points would be needed everywhere.^[1]

So, we are heading for a pretty expensive solution like the line being put in a long bat tunnel. 

I explained this situation to EWR Co. director David Bray recently.  He pointed to the current political environment and that ‘most people’ would consider the £100m Sheephouse Wood Bat Tunnel to be disproportionate.^[2] It reminded me of a conversation with EWRCo. CEO David Hughes along very similar lines as I recall at the EWRCo. Consultation Meeting in Comberton in 2024.

The implication is that if an environmental campaigner were to point out the truth, then the cost of the solution is somehow their responsibility. This is combined with a statement that the decision on the route and the case for the railway have all been made and that to quote ‘The Borg’ androids of Star Trek fame ‘Resistance is futile’.

Stuff that.

However, if you stop and think about the £450million EWR Co. have already spent on their design, the repeated advice from Wildlife organisations that they should perform a Strategic Environmental Assessment and the consultation feedback from many sources including Cambridge Approaches that this was a problem, then I think it is reasonable to say that if a bat tunnel were needed then possibly a tiny bit of the responsibility for that just maybe lands on EWRCo. rather than members of the public pointing out the truth.

Good grief.

Rather like the business case, EWRCo.’s insistence on the southern approach to Cambridge is clearly political rather than evidence based (not that there aren’t retrofitted and obscure statistics they have dreamt up to provide a modicum of cover for their decision). It is quite possible to serve the Cambridge South Station on EWR without passing anywhere near the Eversden and Wimpole Woods.

The Local Plan

We read with anticipation the updated Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) associated with the revised Greater Cambridge Local Plan. These guys have a responsibility to protect their Special Area of Conservation –  the Eversden and Wimpole Woods SAC. They are also adding 13,500 new houses in North Cambourne which are, let’s say ‘associated’ with EWR. Under the Habitats Regulations they have a duty to consider ‘in combination effects’.

Well, I have to tell you that this HRA makes no allowance for the EWR at all. When questioned on this, Planning Director Stephen Kelly said he was waiting for input from EWRCo. He will be waiting forever for that. Consider how EWRCo. handled another difficult issue – the Bicester Level Crossing. They kicked the can down the road so far that the railway is now completed with still no solution agreed.

There is a legal point here. It’s not only about a judgement about the importance of this bat colony and the sort of environment we want to live in. There is a legal requirement on EWRCo. and Greater Cambridge Shared Planning et al. to demonstrate that their plans will not adversely affect the Eversden and Wimpole Woods SAC.  It really looks like they are trying to evade it. It’s comparable to those of us that are not convinced about the financial case for EWR CS3 withholding taxes because we don’t agree. There is a principle here that the law applies to everyone including government. Blaming those that point out the inconvenient truth about your own failures is very human, but rather dubious behaviour.

Call To Action

If you think this situation is unsatisfactory, but that on balance ‘Resistance is Futile’ then do nothing – the bats will starve, the law will be ignored. You could on the other hand kick up a fuss about it. Let’s make this as easy as possible for you. Write some letters (here are some contacts), respond to the Local Plan consultation and, to quote Dylan Thomas ‘rage, rage against the dying of the light’ for these rather special little bats and the rule of law. They are the canary in the mine for our local environment. Prepare to be told why it is not their responsibility, that all these issues will be addressed at some unspecified time in the future etc, etc. Then write back again.

Also, do let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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^[1] For simplicity I am leaving out the many other impacts that building EWR in this area would have. Lights, noise, construction clearance, energy required to fly over the line, the satellite roosts even closer to the line. The list goes on.

^[2] It is a little known fact that the Sheephouse Wood Bat Tunnel was made twice as wide at the request of EWRCo. to cover the case that the Aylesbury spur of EWR was ever built. This was for extra EWR tracks along side HS2. Whether there is a business case for that who knows, but the taxpayer is stumping up £50million of the £100million on the off chance that there is. It seems to me that it would be cheaper to work out whether there is a case for the spur up front.