Darley Mill
Location: North Yorkshire
Services Used
Species Found
Bats
Birds
Heritage-Led Redevelopment
Darley Mill is a 17th-century water mill in the village of Darley, North Yorkshire. The building operated as a corn mill until the 1960s and later reopened in the 1980s as a restaurant and shop, before closing in 2016. Since then, the mill has remained derelict despite several earlier redevelopment attempts.
Protected Species & Planning Support
Whitcher Wildlife Ltd has supported the project through to planning approval for the conversion of the historic mill into residential use, along with the development of a number of new homes within the site. The route to consent required careful ecological input due to the sensitivity of the building and its surroundings. Whitcher Wildlife Ltd carried out dusk emergence surveys over a number of years as proposals evolved, confirming that the mill was used by four bat species: common and soprano pipistrelle, whiskered and Daubenton’s bats. A barn owl was also recorded using the building. Whitcher Wildlife Ltd secured a licence from Natural England and designed mitigation measures to ensure that both bats and barn owls can continue to use the site in the long term.
Long-Term Ecological Management
One of the more complex elements of the project was the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessment, which had to be updated several times as the application progressed and the biodiversity metric evolved. The site also includes a watercourse, requiring a River Condition Assessment (RCA). Whitcher Wildlife Ltd managed these requirements alongside the wider application, helping to secure a successful outcome. The team continues to support the scheme through the bat licence period, including recent supervision of roof removal works, and remains involved in discharging post-planning conditions such as Habitat Management and Monitoring Plans (HMMPs).