THE FIRST residents to move into a sustainable holiday development in the Dorset countryside are batty about their new pad.

The foundations have been laid and the roof tiled on the first house to be built at Silverlake at Crossways - the Bat House.

The house has been specifically designed for the brown long-eared bat species which hibernate in warm and dark conditions such as caves and tunnels.

Offering various entry points and shelter from the outside, the Bat House is designed to be used as a feeding or maternity roost.

The Bat House is just the start of nature conservation efforts by Silverlake, Habitat First Group’s 1,000-home development at the Warmwell Quarry site.

It has been designed with Dorset based ecological consultancy KP Ecology and has been created from an old sand hopper, previously used on the site when it was a working quarry.

The converted sand hopper will offer shelter for a roost of brown long-eared bats, which are known for having ears almost as long as their bodies. Nearby woodlands also offer a prime hunting ground for the bat species that feed on moths, beetles and spiders.

As studies have shown a decline in numbers of the brown longeared bat, the new Bat House is an important project for Habitat First Group which hopes to increase the numbers of the species and others by providing a safe roosting location.

Dr Phoebe Carter, Habitat First Group’s ecologist, said: “Our Bat House is the first step we are taking towards bat conservation at Silverlake.

“Natural roosting sites for bats are becoming scarcer due to habitat loss, and their populations are also being affected by an increase in pesticide use, which is impacting on their insect-prey.

“We hope that the Bat House will provide a perfect roost for the bats as they come out of hibernation in spring.”

Those behind the Silverlake scheme have been keen to include world-class nature conservation and is focussed on protecting hundreds of species of wildlife on the 650-acre site.