What type of bat survey do I need for planning permission?
The type of bat survey you’ll need depends on your project. For example, a large highways scheme will need a different, and far more extensive, survey than a city centre loft conversion.
At the very least, you are likely to need a bat scoping survey. We carry out bat scoping surveys throughout the year, identifying bats, signs of their presence, and potential roosting features within your building.
If the site has no potential to support roosting bats, the bat scoping survey will be sufficient to secure planning permission. If the site does have the potential to support roosting bats, however, you may need further surveys to determine how bats are using the site, including numbers, species, roosting points and flight lines. These include:
- Presence / absence surveys
- Transect and activity surveys
- Static monitoring surveys
- Hibernation surveys
- Ground level tree assessments
- Aerial tree inspections
Ground level and aerial tree inspections are available all year, while presence / absence surveys and activity surveys are available from May to September, and hibernation surveys are carried out from November to March.
Are we the right bat surveyors for you?
Our ecologists are licensed and experienced bat surveyors. We’re legally allowed to disturb bats when we’re surveying them, which includes entering known bat roosts and handling bats when necessary.
Bat surveys should only be carried out by licensed bat surveyors who have been assessed by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, or Scottish Natural Heritage. A number of our licensed surveyors are also qualified tree climbers with City & Guilds NPTC CS38 which means that we are competent to safely enter the tree canopy at height in order to inspect potential roosting features (PRF’s) previously identified from the ground. Potential roosts are inspected with an endoscope as per the British Standard BS8956 – Surveying for bats in trees and woodland.
UES’ Managing Director, Toby Hart, is one of only six registered consultants of Natural England’s bat mitigation class licence (BMCL) in the North West. This allows UES to deliver a quicker and cheaper licencing service on certain projects where the conservation importance of the roost is low.
For more information on the legal status of bats, please click the below link: