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Have you been asked to carry out a bat survey?
You may have been asked to do a bat survey for a planning application. This is because all 17 species of bats in England , and their roosts, are protected by law (both UK and European). It is therefore illegal to carry out any development work on possible roosts without first having a survey.
Bat surveys must be done by a licensed bat ecologist, and Acorn Ecology has licensed bat workers that can carry out your survey. This will involve a thorough search of all the spaces in the building including an internal loft search if appropriate. Your ecologist will be looking for any signs of roosting, signs of feeding, entrance holes and roost areas, and of course the bats themselves. An emergence survey may also be needed if there are areas of the building that are inaccessible or to gain more information about the species/number of individuals that are using the structure for roosting. If there are no buildings then trees can provide roosts and hedgelines and waterways can provide foraging routes so activity surveys may be required.
A report on the findings will be compiled including information on suggested mitigation. This report can be submitted to the planning authority to ensure that any work carried out is within the law. There are usually several options available to you if bats are present, all of which will require providing some sort of appropriate accommodation for the bats and the works to be carried out at an appropriate time of the year.
A European Protected Species Licence (EPSL) needs to be obtained, which should be done by your bat ecologist, in order to carry out any works on the roost. For an information sheet about EPSL's please e-mail us on info@acornecology.co.uk
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