Construction firm fined after illegally destroying wild animal shelter

A construction firm that illegally destroyed bat roosts after demolishing buildings at a Caernarfon industrial estate without permission has been fined.

Lancashire based company FI Real Estate Management LTD of Botany Brow, Chorley, appeared at Caernarfon Magistrates Court on 1 April.

At a previous hearing on January 8, the firm admitted a charge of destroying a wild animal shelter.

The offences breached the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The firm was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay the full amount within three months.  

A police investigation was launched into the incident at the end of 2024.

It came after Cyngor Gwynedd Planning Department reported buildings on the Peblig Industrial Estate in Caernarfon had been demolished without authorisation.

Two years earlier, the council had received a planning application from FI Real Estate Management LTD to redevelop the site.

The plans included the demolition of existing disused industrial and commercial units and the subsequent development of new units.

A structural survey identified several buildings on site were unsafe and needed demolishing at the earliest opportunity – particularly as a result of youths visiting the derelict site.

However, as part of the planning process, a bat survey carried out in early 2023 found three different species of bats were roosting in some of the buildings on the site.

As a result, demolition work required a European Protected Species (EPS) Licence from Natural Resources Wales (NRW). It meant a suitable bat house to safeguard the protected species would need to be created on the site.

In June 2023, a senior biodiversity officer rejected the proposed shelter, deeming it unsuitable, and advised adjustments were needed before the demolition could go ahead.

Despite this, in September 2024, the firm went ahead and demolished all buildings without permission – subsequently destroying the bat roosts.

It came despite a warning from Planning Department that going ahead with the demolition without a licence was unauthorised.

Rural Crime Team Sergeant Peter Evans said: “The demolition caused irreversible harm to a protected species.

“Developers and property owners have a clear legal obligation to carry out the necessary surveys and secure the correct licences before starting work and adhere to them.

“The conviction sends a clear message that wildlife crime is not a victimless offence, nor is it an acceptable cost of doing business.”