Bat Survey Shropshire: Protected Species Surveys
Bat surveys are undertaken for development sites to inform a planning application and determine bat presence within a structure or tree. In Shropshire, development works, from minor home improvements to major development projects, may require licensing to ensure no offences are committed in relation to the bat community. The need for a bat survey may be highlighted during an environmental impact assessment, or the local authority may advise you that a survey is required for your planning application to be successful.
A bat activity survey will detect the presence or likely absence of bats in a particular area so that plans can be made to proceed with a development. If bats or bat roosts are found to be present on a site, bat mitigation and compensation measures must be undertaken before any development work can begin. An example of this is the installation of bat boxes.
All bat species in Shropshire and the rest of the UK are protected by several statutes, species including the common pipistrelle bat, greater horseshoe bat, Noctule bat and soprano pipistrelle bat. Any works affecting the lives and the breeding of bats, without first gaining a protected species licence, are against the law.
Bat Survey Shropshire: Types of Bat Survey
Though there are many types of surveys that can be carried out to assess a number of details, the two most common are as follows:
Preliminary Roost Assessment/Bat Scoping Survey: This is the first step in the bat surveying process which involves an ecologist carrying out a site visit. They will carry out an internal and external inspection of the building looking for evidence of bats, including insect feeding remains and bat droppings.
Nocturnal Bat Survey/Bat Emergence Survey: This involves surveyors using bat detectors to record and analyse bat calls. They will be either dusk emergence surveys (when bats are leaving their roosts to forage) or dawn re-entry surveys (the end of the night out when all the bats return back to their roosts).
How Can Collington Winter Assist?
The team at Collington Winter Environmental are highly skilled ecological consultants and have extensive experience carrying out licensed bat surveys on a range of development projects. We understand the importance of bat conservation and compliance with regulations in place to protect bats.
Our Ecological Director, Olivia Collington, holds a Natural England bat licence and has worked with several protected species over the years, including bats.
We offer a wide range of protected species surveys, including great crested newt surveys.We can also assist with Biodiversity Net Gain.
For more information or a free quote on our bat surveys or any other protected species or ecology survey, please get in touch with our director at, info@collingtonwinter.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact us via our website using the form below and we will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.
Contact Us
Registered Address
23 Bark Street East, 1st Floor, Bolton, BL1 2BQ
Cambridge Office
Future Business Centre, Cambridge Campus, Kings Hedges Road, Cambridge, CB4 2HY
Telephone
Head Office: 01204 939 608
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