A third application seeks to replace two empty bungalows in Biggin Hill with eight homes, proposing to keep protected slow-worms on site rather than move them to Kent. Six surveys counted at most nine slow-worms per visit, versus at least 23 in an earlier assessment.
The surveys were commissioned by new landowner Paul Bruckner and conducted by ecologist Neil Coombs between August and October 2025. Three bat emergence surveys detected no bats; Coombs recommended a dedicated grassland area for the slow-worms, citing the lower counts and risks of moving them.
Bromley Council refused the first application in 2021 over insufficient evidence that wildlife, especially bats and dormice, would not be harmed. A later proposal offered to move the slow-worms to Fort Horsted, but planners said it lacked detail and no full reptile survey had been done there; an inspector agreed the Kent site’s suitability had not been established. Residents said eight homes were too many and construction traffic would struggle on the narrow road.
