Ricky Gervais’ incredible renovation plans at his £6million countryside mansion may be thwarted by a family of bats who have taken up residency in his loft.
The comedian, 64, has grand plans to knock down his existing home in Marlowe and build a stunning new property on the land, with room for a gym and tennis court.
However a bat survey on the property revealed that the house is currently being used as a roost by a colony of bats, which are classed as a protected species.
According to a report seen by the Sun, more than 270 soprano pipistrelle bats were seen flying from the building and thousands of droppings were discovered.
It is an offence to disturb, injure or kill bats as well as damaging their roosts, according to the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
The act means that Ricky will need to obtain a special licence from Natural England before beginning work on the rebuild because of the bats.
Ricky Gervais’ incredible renovation plans at his £6million countryside mansion may be thwarted by a family of bats who have taken up residency in his loft
The comedian, 64, has grand plans to knock down his existing home and build a stunning new property on the land, with room for a gym and tennis court (outlined above)
It is apparently likely he will have to build a new bat loft in his garage as well as erecting two bat boxes in nearby trees, in line with the Bat Mitigation Strategy.
The report seen by the publication says: ‘Because maternity roosts require a particular set of environmental attributes, breeding bats tend to return to roost and breed in the same locations year after year.
‘Given that bats live a relatively long time (10-20 years) and only give birth to one pup a year, maternity colonies are crucial to the reproduction and survival of the local population and can be very sensitive to environmental change.’
Earlier this year it was revealed that Ricky’s renovations hit a sticking point when he was told he needed to alter plans to include anti-flooding precautions.
The fears forced the Office star to pause plans for his riverside mansion.
He was in discussions with the local authority to resubmit a proposal for a neoclassical home on the site of his existing three-bedroom pad, which has been hit by flooding at least five times since 1947.
But the plans were put on hold after the Environment Agency raised concerns about the possibility of further overflows and an alleged failure to mitigate the attendant risks.
It marked another setback for Ricky, whose home sits on the banks of the River Thames, after a previous proposal was rejected last September.
Ricky’s house currently looks like this
The scheme was deemed by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to fall foul of local and national planning guidelines.
The actor had planned to demolish the residence, which he describes as his ‘little country retreat’, and rebuild it from scratch.
Ricky had previously withdrawn a proposal to add a bedroom extension over the garage.
Planners said following last September’s refusal that the project represented ‘inappropriate more vulnerable development in a high flood risk zone’, adding that the proposal failed to show there would not be ‘an adverse impact on flood risk’.
There were also concerns that the proposal neglected to assess the potential impact of climate change.
He included CCTV pictures in that application that showed the property’s main entrance, garage and back garden underwater after the Thames burst its banks.
But the Environment Agency cited fresh objections over potential flooding, forcing plans for a resubmitted proposal to be put on ice, according to a planning agent working on behalf of Ricky.
Ricky’s extensive property portfolio includes a £14.75million mansion with nine bedrooms, a spa and tennis court in a leafy conservation area in north London, as well as his Marlow home
The Environment Agency has objected over concerns about the possibility of flooding of Ricky’s home in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, citing an alleged failure to mitigate the risks
‘Our client would like to submit a new planning application for his house, and he was about to start a pre-application consultation with the local authority before discovering that the EA have submitted a delayed response for the determined planning application,’ the agent wrote in an email uploaded to the planning portal.
‘All actions for the project have now been put on hold until the EA provide further clarification on their position.”’
Oliver Murray, planning adviser for the Environment Agency, pointed to alleged shortcomings in the flood-risk assessment submitted as part of the previous application and a failure to account for climate risks.
‘Unfortunately we were unable to respond before your decision was reached, however we have decided to send our comments for reference and information,’ wrote Murray. ‘In the absence of an acceptable flood risk assessment we object to this application.’
He said the flood-risk assessment ‘does not comply with the requirements for site-specific flood risk assessments’ and argued the proposal was ‘contrary’ to the council’s local plan on mitigating flood risk and waterways.
‘The [flood-risk assessment] does not therefore adequately assess the flood risks posed by the development,’ wrote Murray, adding that the assessment ‘fails to take the impacts of climate change into account’ or to ‘demonstrate the development will not increase flood risk elsewhere’.
He ncluded CCTV pictures in his original planning application that showed flooding around the main entrance of his riverside home, together with the garage and back garden
Flooding from the River Thames reached as far as the gates on the driveway on the other side of the house, according to this CCTV image
Murray said the objection was likely to be maintained until a revised flood-risk assessment was submitted.
He explained that it would need to ‘calculate an appropriate allowance for climate change’ and ‘demonstrate that any loss of floodplain storage plus an appropriate allowance for climate change can be directly compensated for to prevent an increase in flood risk elsewhere’.
The objection also stated that even if Ricky was eventually granted planning permission, he would still need a permit to begin works.
‘The applicant will require a Flood Risk Activity Permit to undertake the proposed works as the main river, the River Thames, runs adjacent to the site. As submitted, it is unlikely that a permit would be granted.
‘The applicant should not assume that a permit will automatically be forthcoming once planning permission has been granted, and we advise them to consult with us at the earliest opportunity.
‘The applicant would need to demonstrate that the proposed works will not adversely impact on flood risk or the watercourse.’
The agency recommended the use of flood resistance and resilience measures including ‘physical barriers, raised electrical fittings and special construction materials’.
To overcome the agency’s objection, said Murray, Ricky and his team would also need to submit an ecological survey to ensure measures were ‘realistic, achievable and would provide the level of biodiversity Net Gain required’.
An image from Oxford-based architects Anderson Orr shows the proposed new property
CCTV images showed the extent of flooding to the property when the Thames bursts its banks
Ricky’s planning agent identified several perceived errors in the agency’s response.
‘Our report states that the proposed development will not result in flood water displacement as the proposals will not increase the building’s footprint,’ said the actor’s representative.
In previous planning documents submitted for the rebuild, Ricky’s agent outlined the benefits of replacing the current home.
‘The existing dwelling is of poor design quality, performs poorly in sustainability terms and has a disjointed internal layout,’ the agent wrote.
‘Any new dwelling should therefore be of high design quality internally and externally, with substantially enhanced sustainability credentials.
‘The proposed scheme seeks to create a high-quality, sustainable dwelling that will be flood resilient and significantly enhances its build and natural surroundings, while also providing an enhanced standard of living accommodation.
‘The proposal aims to take advantage of its riverside location by maximising views to the River Thames and providing open and spacious living spaces as opposed to the smaller segregated spaces currently provided with the existing dwelling.’
Ricky, who lives with partner Jane Fallon, had submitted a flood assessment risk as part of the failed application.
Referring to the flood risk, his agent added: ‘This is a considerable increase in the ground floor level.
“’Combined with the increased flood storage beneath the building footprint, decreased building footprint on site and the improvement in flood resilient measures, there will be a marked improvement in the flood risk level attributed to and from this dwelling.
‘Though the improvements do not remove this dwelling completely from flood risk, they provide a marked improvement to the safety of the occupiers, providing a significant increase in floor levels which in turn delivers more time to respond to a r
Ricky bought the property in 2014 for £2.75M million. The residence is now reputedly valued at more than £4 million.
Ricky has an extensive property portfolio including a £14.75 million mansion with nine bedrooms, a spa and tennis court in a leafy conservation area in north London, as well as his Marlow riverside home.
He also reportedly has two apartments on New York’s Upper East Side which he bought for £1.1million in 2008 and £2.5million in 2011.
Reicky previously sparked a row with neighbours at his former £7.7million home in Hampstead, north London after he dug out a basement to add an underground gym and indoor pool.
Other famous residents with property in the Marlow area include fellow comedian Russell Brand who bought a £3.3million, six-bedroom riverside home in Henley-on-Thames just two months before Ricky bought his riverside home, in 2014.
