Ecologists have found evidence of the whiskered bat on the site of the planned Catalyst building on Leek Road.
Discoveries like this show how green spaces, and the buildings around them, contribute to the environmental well-being of the places in which they are sited. Winter roosts, like those newly discovered in our University building, indicate that wildlife is using green spaces, like our community nature reserve, to survive and flourish.
Staffordshire University’s Catalyst Building, which is part-funded by the Office for Students, will take the place of the Brindley Building on the University’s Stoke-on-Trent campus and will become a flagship for students and the local community.
The building will house the Apprenticeships & Digital Skills Hub, a new library, social learning spaces and a restaurant and café. It will also act as a study base for 6,500 new apprenticeships by 2030.
Survey work has led to the discovery of a bat roost in the Brindley Building. The finding, made by ecologists during a due diligence survey, means that further exploratory work will be needed in early summer 2019. The surveys cannot be carried out now as the bats will have entered their hibernation period and cannot be disturbed, as all 18 British bat species are protected by law.
This highlights that the Stoke campus of Staffordshire University is clearly a haven for wildlife in the city. Dr David Skingsley, Senior Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences and Education and a recognised wildlife expert, said the find was a great opportunity:
“Discoveries like this show how green spaces, and the buildings around them, contribute to the environmental well-being of the places in which they are sited. Winter roosts, like those newly discovered in our University building, indicate that wildlife is using green spaces, like our community nature reserve, to survive and flourish.”
The University will be working to enhance the wildlife habitats on campus and the new Catalyst Building will feature environmentally friendly features such as solar power.
Students and staff will also benefit from the reopening of Brindley car park, which had been closed to allow for demolition, with the car park being fully open by Christmas 2018.
The discovery of protected bat species on Staffordshire University’s Stoke campus will extend the creation of its new Catalyst Building to Autumn 2021.