THE EMPTY school site at Johnston cannot be knocked down without planning permission as it is currently used as a roosting site for bats, the county council has decided.

The former Johnston CP School building at Cranham Park was vacated when the school moved to its new site on Langford Road.

Pembrokeshire County Council had planned to demolish the building, but following a bat survey needs to submit details of how the building will be demolished to avoid disrupting the bats, as well as providing a new roost site.

A report by TerrAqua Ecological Services found there are small populations of three bat species roosting in the building: common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle and brown long-eared bats.

TerrAqua’s survey indicated the school is used as a summer roost by the three species, with no evidence that any bats were hibernating in the building or using it as a maternity roost.

The report recommends that a purpose-built bat house is erected in the grounds of the school before demolition work is carried out.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning department concluded: “The demolition of the building may have an adverse impact on European Protected Species, in particular bats which roost within the building.

“As such a demolition method statement which shall include full details of timings of the demolition work and details of a dedicated bat roost shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval in writing.”