To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will issue a development control policy note for the guidance of local planning authorities in relation to applications in which an issue arises from the presence of bats on an application site; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and I are in the process of preparing a planning policy guidance note on nature conservation in general. This note, which will be subject to public consultation, will advise local authorities of the provisions of various conservation laws including the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which affords protection to certain species of bats and other scheduled wild animals.