Bat discovery imperils final section of Lincolnshire relief road after council leader rejects £4.3m mitigation

Discovery of a colony of rare barbastelle bats near the route of the North Hykeham Relief Road has prompted ecological mitigation proposals worth about £4.3 million and opened a political dispute after the newly elected leader of Lincolnshire County Council said he will not fund the measures.

The relief road, intended to complete the southern section of Lincoln's ring road and ease local congestion, was already subject to cost increases. The county council received an updated estimate that raised the total scheme to as much as £218 million from an earlier range of £180 million to £208 million, with the additional figure including £3 million for a fully grassed-over bridge, £1.3 million for a 4m by 4m tunnel and several smaller "hop-over" features designed to let bats cross the road safely.

Sean Matthews, who became Lincolnshire county council leader in May as a member of Reform UK, described the mitigation proposals as "nonsense" and said "the taxpayers of Lincolnshire will not be paying £4.3 million for this." He told the Daily Mail the project would not be delayed by the bats and added: "At the end of the day this project will not be delayed by bats. It would not bother a single person in my constituency if there were no bat tunnels. I am not making a political point, this is about saving money." He also said he was seeking to establish who requested the bat tunnels after being told Natural England had not done so.

Contractor Balfour Beatty and council ecologists drew up the mitigation plans after barbastelle bats were recorded along hedgerows that would be intersected by the new road. The bridge proposal features twin hedges planted along a grassed span so the animals can continue to follow linear features without encountering traffic, while the tunnel is intended to give flying bats a safe passage beneath the carriageway.

Barbastelle bats are one of the UK's rarest mammals. The species is classed as "vulnerable" on the UK Red List, with an estimated UK population of about 5,000 and a recorded decline over centuries. The bats navigate using hedgerows, and ecologists say when those lines meet roads the animals may continue flying and be placed at risk by traffic. Lincolnshire council's head of highways infrastructure, Sam Edwards, told an overview and scrutiny board that the recordings represented the furthest north the species had been found in England and Wales and warned that "without mitigation, [Natural England] will object to the planning application." He said precedent suggested Natural England's objection would carry weight with the planning authority, potentially forcing a refusal unless measures were adopted.

Natural England said it was consulted twice as the proposal evolved and "neither time did we give advice on bats or raise an objection to the scheme over bat mitigation for the North Hykeham Relief Road." A Natural England spokesperson added that the agency "did not require, 'demand' or design the bat 'culvert' and 'bridge' mitigation. The proposals have been designed by the developers based on their own ecological surveys and legal obligations." Natural England normally provides bespoke advice on protected species only where they form part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest or in exceptional circumstances and otherwise refers authorities to standing guidance.

The dispute has drawn national attention and become a flashpoint in wider debates over how to balance infrastructure delivery and species protection. Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice described the proposals on social media as "another batshit bat tunnel" and said his party would refuse what he called "outrageous waste of taxpayers cash." Conservative county councillor and former highways lead Richard Davies criticised regulatory arrangements, saying "the system is geared towards the bat and against the people" and calling Natural England an "unelected quango." He cautioned that only a minority of bats may use tunnels and characterised the process of securing regulatory clearance as iterative and opaque.

Environmental groups stressed legal protections for rare species. The Bat Conservation Trust said barbastelles are primarily found in southern and central England and Wales, making the Lincolnshire records nationally significant. The trust and other conservation organisations note that developers are legally required to avoid or reduce harm to protected species and often propose mitigation or compensation measures where impacts are unavoidable.

Similar disputes have affected other major schemes. The presence of rare bats contributed to cancellation of the Norwich Western Link bypass plans earlier this year, and critics have pointed to more than £100 million spent on a structure to protect bats on the HS2 route as emblematic of the tensions between conservation obligations and infrastructure costs. The government is pursuing legislation intended to allow more use of habitat "compensation"—creating or enhancing habitat elsewhere funded by developers—but conservationists including the Bat Conservation Trust have criticised offsetting as a potential "licence to destroy nature."

Local voices are divided. Businesses and some residents in North Hykeham said the new road is urgently needed to relieve congestion and support the local economy. Jack Good, whose company has a distribution centre in North Hykeham, said improved infrastructure was "vital" and urged authorities to deliver the project without environmental harm. Others in the area said the additional mitigation costs were "deeply disappointing" and worry that expenses on wildlife measures could lengthen delays and inflate the overall budget. Some residents defended the need to protect wildlife, reporting regular sightings of bats and saying nature should be preserved.

Work on the road was scheduled to start in February. Council officials and the contractor maintain that the mitigation proposals were developed in response to statutory duties and ecological surveys. The council leader has so far said the county will not fund the £4.3 million set of measures, while council officers warn that without acceptable mitigation the planning authority could be compelled to refuse permission, potentially delaying the project or forcing redesign.

As debate continues, the council faces decisions about whether to proceed with the relief road with the proposed mitigation in place, seek alternative solutions that meet legal obligations, or risk a planning refusal and further delay. The dispute underscores broader national tensions between meeting infrastructure needs and complying with wildlife protections for vulnerable species.