Havant Thicket Winter Storage Reservoir

ECOSA has carried out no less than five years of survey work on some 160 hectares of land largely owned by Portsmouth Water Limited. The development proposals for the site are to construct a water storage reservoir with a storage capacity of approximately 8,700 million litres. This will involve the loss of woodland blocks and areas of grassland.

The survey area included the proposed development area and surrounding habitat; which comprises open pasture, woodland, hedgerows and ditches. In addition, ecological surveys were extended to adjacent areas in order to establish the presence and status of vegetation communities, bats, dormice, birds and reptile populations.

When Bechstein's bats were found to be present in the area, an additional programme of bat capture and radio-tracking using specialist equipment was carried out. This enabled the identification of roost sites and the determination of foraging and commuting areas.  This survey work enabled a landscape-scale assessment of Bechstein bat use of the site and adjacent habitat to be made. Through ECOSA's work on this and similar projects, we are now considered specialists in this notoriously under-recorded bat species.

Based on the report's findings and detailed mapping of the key habitats for the various protected species and habitats of interest, ECOSA are recommending a suite of long-term mitigation solutions that will fit with the overall objective of securing a reliable water supply for Portsmouth and the surrounding areas.