Plans to demolish a dilapidated Bangor hospital are to be looked at again after it was found bats were unlikely to be roosting there.

In March, an application had sought permission to raze the former Ysbyty Minffordd, amid fears the site was also being used for prostitution and drug taking.

But Gwynedd Council planners, following concerns raised by Natural Resources Wales, put the brakes on the planned demolition to allow a new study to determine if bats were living in the derelict buildings.

A revised application has landed on the desks of the planning department this week, however, with a specialist study determining that bats were unlikely to be living within the confines of the largely derelict structures.

Officers being unable to access many sections due to their poor condition, but despite this the report also recommends that bat boxes are installed on nearby trees before demolition starts, while any work should not take place during their traditional hibernation period of November to March.

“Although there is no evidence of the structures being used for hibernation, species such as pipistrelle and brown-long eared bats will often hibernate in crevices in structures and, as such, would be particularly vulnerable to winter demolition works,” notes the report.

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