But they did not count on the local council requesting that the show's organisers be trained in the finer points of bat rescue. However, that is exactly what happened when the producers of the £3 million spectacular applied to Westminster Council for planning permission.
The children's show is being staged in a giant tented pavilion pitched in an area of the west London park which is home to hundreds of rare Daubenton's bats. Ecology experts consulted by the council and the Royal Parks Agency concluded that the flying mammals would be disturbed by the lights emitting from the tent, where Neverland will be recreated thanks to the latest CGI technology.
Image from here.
When the show begins on May 26, staff will be trained to scoop up any bat which has accidentally flown into the side of the tent and whisk them away for emergency treatment.
Producer Matt Churchill said: "It is an honour to be able to do this in the park and we are taking great care to look after the ecology, including turning people into bat resuscitators. We haven't done our bat training yet but we will have the ability to safeguard any injured bats that we find. We will have a front of house manager responsible for bat rescue."
Finding an injured bat in the dark will present a considerable challenge. "The tent is 100 feet long and the site is several thousand square metres, and a bat is obviously only a few centimetres long, so it will be a case of trying to spot them in the long grass if they've injured themselves."
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