Topic: The legality of bat boxes

[Cruz]

Can anybody tell me whether the placing of bat boxes on an allotment is legal or not?
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recall reading something which said that these effectively convert an allotment into a conservation area and prevent all sorts of things from going on.
Any advice appreciated!

[Ninnyscrops.]

I put a bat box up in my garden years ago and it was colonised by bees!

That's a difficult one Cruz.

Someone will know  ;)

Ninny

[Unwashed]

I've installed one at my allotment. :)

Because a bat's roost has full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act - whether or not a bat is currently using it - it will make it difficult to do anything with the tree it's in - but then if there are bats in the area you'd always have to consider them anyway.  It doesn't mean you couldn't get rid of a tree with a bat box, just that you'd need a bat survey to say that the roost could go.