A police investigation was launched in late 2024, after Cyngor Gwynedd Planning Department reported buildings on the Peblig Industrial Estate in Caernarfon had been demolished without authorisation.
FI Real Estate, based in Chorley, had applied for planning permission to develop the site two years earlier, including demolishing derelict structures.
A structural survey has supported the early demolition of the buildings, but a bat survey carried out in early 2023 identified roosts for three bat species.
This meant that the demolition needed a European Protected Species (EPS) Licence from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which required that a replacement bat house be built. In June 2023, a senior biodiversity officer rejected the developer's proposed shelter design, requiring changes before demolition took place.
In September 2024, the company went ahead with the demolition, despite not having received permission.
The offences breached the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. FI Real Estate was ordered to pay the fine in full within three months.
Rural crime team sergeant Peter Evans said: 鈥淭he demolition caused irreversible harm to a protected species.
鈥淒evelopers and property owners have a clear legal obligation to carry out the necessary surveys and secure the correct licences before starting work and adhere to them.
鈥淭he conviction sends a clear message that wildlife crime is not a victimless offence, nor is it an acceptable cost of doing business.鈥�