He said the team was exploring whether some mitigation work could be carried out in advance, but warned that making significant progress before the bat survey season started in May was proving difficult.
Bats are legally protected in the UK, with it illegal to damage, disturb or kill a bat and its roosting place without a special licence from Natural England.
Additional complications had also emerged, Richards said, with parts of the scheme having to be redesigned after they did not fit at the location, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Councillor Melanie Davis, who represents Selby West, said she had concerns about how long the project was taking and how money was being “whittled away” on it.
Speaking at the meeting, she said: “I have a concern in the way it’s been presented that this might all end up being the bats’ fault and I don’t want anybody to run away with that.
“The bats are happy doing whatever they’re doing where they do it. This is not their fault.”