Bat Survey Canterbury: Protected Species

Canterbury, in the South East of England, is home to many of the UK’s eighteen species of bats, and so any project development which occurs there will typically need a bat survey to identify any presence of bats within buildings, trees and structures on and surrounding the project site.

The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations was introduced in 2017 to protect species on all sites across the UK, especially those at risk of negative impact from a nearby development. As project development is a recurring prospect for the UK, local authorities, such as Canterbury City Council, make it a priority to notify you if a bat survey is needed during the planning application process.

All bat species, their chosen breeding sites, and roost sites have been protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act since 1981. This crucial act states that it is illegal to unnecessarily kill, injure, or destroy the habitat of any roosting bat in the UK. Therefore, bat mitigation and compensation measures are crucial when beginning a planning proposal for a new development site.

Preliminary Roost Assessment: A Preliminary Roost Assessment (PRA) is an initial ecological survey to establish whether bats are likely to be roosting in a specific building or structure.

This assessment is crucial in the process of assessing the potential impact of project development on bat species on the site and in the area. Our consultants will complete survey work, such as an excavation of the internal and external areas of a site and record any evidence of roosting bats.

Bat emergence and re-entry surveys: If necessary, after a PRA, a bat emergence survey or a re-entry survey will typically be performed to monitor the bats with a closer eye, such as monitoring entry and exit points to any buildings to provide information on the bat’s behaviour, including their chosen roosting spots, breeding and feeding rituals.

Our consultants use up-to-date bat protective technology such as thermal imaging cameras and bat detectors to limit unnecessary disturbance to the bats.

Nocturnal bat surveys: As all bat species in the UK are nocturnal, recordings of echolocation sounds are primarily noticeable at night. A nocturnal bat survey can gather sufficient data on the bat’s behaviour and habitat usage at their most active time.

Collington Winter is an environmental consultancy comprised of licenced protected species surveyors. We work alongside bat conservation trusts to protect endangered species across the UK. Our ecological consultants hold Natural England bat licences and European Protected Species licenses, which are beneficial in supporting our work protecting endangered species that may be impacted by a wide range of project developments.

Please contact our Managing Director, Olivia Collington (info@collingtonwinter.co.uk) for more information on our ecological services and Canterbury bat survey work. We also provide Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) services and Landscape architectural services.