On this and our service pages, you can find all the information you’re ever likely to need about bat surveys and what happens next. (And if for some reason you don’t, our friendly experts are at the other end of that freephone number up there on the top right of your screen.) Questions like “what happens to my planning application if I have bats?” are asked of our team on a daily basis by people just like you, all across the UK.
We know that bats might not have been in your game plan and the original costings for your project, so we do appreciate you’re a little worried about what comes next. Fortunately, our team have never failed to secure a planning consent for a client where bats have been found or are even suspected to be present at a site.
Of course, there’s a protocol to follow; bat surveys to be done, reports to be submitted to your local planners, and in some rare cases, protected species licences to be obtained… but that’s all in a day’s work for us here at Arbtech. With six fully licenced bat survey consultants we have among the broadest and deepest bat expertise of any ecological consultancy in the country.
Bats Background
In the UK we have 18 different species of bats and they are all protected by law. Bats live in places refereed to as roosts. A bat roost can be found in a number of different places including caves, cracks in trees, lofts and barns. Bats like to set up their roosts where there is a safe place to hibernate, raise their babies and find insects and water to feed on. Bats have different requirements of roosts at different times of the year so they will often move around to find a roost that suits them.
Learn More about Bat Surveys
Whether it’s seeking more information about a specific issue, or simply increasing your background knowledge, if you want to know more about bat surveys, below we have a summary of the ‘need to know’ as well as a fairly comprehensive set of resources for you to explore by following the links at the bottom of the page. Bats are protected by various statues throughout the United Kingdom. These various legal instruments are summarised in the table below (Source: Arbtech):
| Location of Roost | Transposing EC Habitats Directive | Other Relevant Legislation | Planning Policy |
|---|
| England | Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. | Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended.Countrywide and Rights of Way Act 2000.Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. | National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”). |
| Wales | Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. | Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended.Countrywide and Rights of Way Act 2000.Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. | Technical Advice Note (“TAN”) 5. |
| Scotland | Conservation (Natural Habitat & c.) Regulations 1994 as amended. | Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended.The Nature conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. | National Planning Policy Guidance (“NPPG”) 14 and Planning Advice Note (“PAN”) 60. |
Cumulatively, this legislation makes it illegal to:
- Intentionally or deliberately kill, injure or capture bats
- Deliberately disturb bats, whether at roost or not
- Damage, destroy or obstruct access to bat roosts
- Possess or transport a bat or any part of a bat, unless acquired legally
- Sell, barter or exchange bats, or any part of a bat
To satisfy to your local authority that your development application does not pose any risk to bats or their roosting places, you will need to demonstrate bat presence or absence with some scientific validity. This is ordinarily undertaken by a licenced ecologist and commonly comprises a daylight inspection of your buildings or trees, both internal and external, as access allows for – the scoping bat survey.
If your ecologist cannot confirm the complete absence of bats, evidence of their activity and suitable habitat, it is fairly normal for your local authority ask you for a bat emergence survey. However, in the happy majority of instances, a scoping survey is as far as the process needs to go.
Internal Resources
See for yourself what renowned (in the bat world) Doctoral Researcher, Stacy Waring thinks of our internal resources:
External Resources
How to start your bat survey
If you would like a free quote then you can call our friendly team or click on the ‘free quote’ button. Provide us with some basic details including the address of your site and we will put an accurate quote together for you and send it via email. The quote explains everything you need to know and there is no obligation for you to take it further if you don’t want to.
How are we different?
We react with lightning speed and aim to get your bat survey turned around as fast as possible, at a fair and fixed cost, which you can find right here on this site. Robert Oates
We only undertaken planning and development related work, so our bat expertise isn’t diluted over a multitude of disciplines and sectors.Craig Williams
We care the most about what matters to you: getting our client a planning permission via the path of least resistance. Martin O’Connor
