A councillor has refused to spend £4million of taxpayer money on bat crossings, causing a delay in the construction of a much anticipated road.
The North Hykeham Relief Road project will reduce congestion in the southern part of Lincoln as it makes the final part of a ring road.
However, the discovery of barbastelle bats in Lincolnshire has ground the project to a halt.
Plans for a £3million grass-covered "bat bridge", a £1.3million "bat tunnel" and additional bat "hop-overs" were submitted to the council in order to complete the construction of the road.
Sean Matthews has vowed the taxpayer's money will not be used to fund the bat crossings
|LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
However, Sean Matthews, a retired police officer who became the first Reform UK leader of Lincolnshire County Council in May, has called the plans "nonsense".
The ring road project was originally expected to cost between £180million and £208million, however as problems have arisen, including the discovery of the bats, the total cost has climbed to £218million.
Mr Matthews said: "The long and the short of it is the taxpayers of Lincolnshire will not be paying £4.3million for this.
"We were elected to stop wasting money and that is what I intend to do."
COUNCIL ROWS - READ MORE:
The cost of the North Hykeham Relief Road project have increased to £218million
|LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
The project has been thrown into question after the discovery of the bats
|LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
Contractor Balfour Beatty, alongside other council officials, created the plans for a bridge with twin hedges planted along it, and a four metre square tunnel.
Both plans are hoped to stop barbastelle bats, which are one of the UK's rarest mammals, from flying into the traffic.
Across the country, Reform UK councillors have been pledging to cut down council spending.
Richard Tice, Deputy Leader of Reform and MP for the Lincolnshire seat of Boston and Skegness, wrote on social media: "We will refuse this outrageous waste of taxpayers cash. Natural England can forget it."
Richard Tice agreed that the taxpayer will not fund the mitigations
|PA
Construction of the road is set to start in February, and Mr Matthews has promised it would not be delayed.
"It would not bother a single person in my constituency if there were no bat tunnels", he told the Daily Mail. "I am not making a political point, this is about saving money."
He added: "I think bats have got enough protection,. They've got sonar, haven't they? They can avoid buildings, they avoid roads. I've never hit a bat with my car. Have you?"
However, Sam Edwards, Lincolnshire Council's Head of Highways Infrastructure, said there was "very clear communication with Natural England [that], without mitigation, it will object to the planning application."
He added that judging from previous cases, Natural England's argument would "hold favour, and it's almost almost certain that the planning authority will have no choice but to recommend a refusal".
By law, if a rare species is present, developers must avoid or reduce harm.
The barbastelle bat is one of the rarest mammals in the UK
|WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Lincolnshire County Council's Conservative opposition leader Richard Davies said: "The system is geared towards the bat and against the people", and called Natural England "an unelected Quango".
However, he also criticised Reform UK for simply refusing to build the bridge.
He said: "It is an incredibly naive statement. You have to make a decision: do we build the road that we have planning permission for and funding for, with the bat bridge included, or do we not build the road at all?"
A spokesman for Natural England said: "Natural England were consulted twice as the proposal evolved neither time did we give advice on bats or raise an objection to the scheme over bat mitigation for the North Hykeham Relief Road.
"As such, we did not require, 'demand' or design the bat 'culvert' and 'bridge' mitigation.
"The proposals have been designed by the developers based on their own ecological surveys and legal obligations."