Bat Survey £329: Surrey Wildlife Trust
Bat surveys are frequently requested from those of you submitting planning applications in the various boroughs of Surrey. In fact, in e.g. Waverley, Elmbridge, Guildford and Surrey Heath, a bat survey is a validation requirement for any development proposals that involve demolition.
Surrey Wildlife Trust require Bat Surveys
Surrey Wildlife Trust oversees the assessment of planning applications, often with the help of Surrey Bat Group. Following the link, you will be taken to Surrey Bat Group’s web site page that highlights the criteria Surrey Wildlife Trust use to determine the risk to bats, in consequence of your demolition and construction, or conversion. They do this generally, using their own criteria, which looks for habitats and protected species of all kinds, including bats.
Bat Surveyors in Surrey
Bat surveys come in two varieties: an initial bat survey and bat emergence surveys. By following this link, you can watch a video clip taken during a recent bat survey in Berkshire.
Initial bat surveys in Surrey will cost £329 from Arbtech and involve a licensed bat surveyor attending your site to conduct a very thorough internal and external inspection. The results of the survey are presented in our report which will define bat presence, evidence of activity—such as droppings—and habitat value as negative or positive. In the case that any of these findings are significant, Surrey Wildlife Trust will undoubtedly ask you to present a more detailed study: the emergence bat survey. However, bats hibernate overwinter because the insects upon which they predate are not abundant. This means that while initial, scoping bat surveys can be undertaken year-round, bat emergence surveys are time limited.
Licensed Bat Consultants in Surrey
Natural England, the Bat Conservation Trust, and most local planning authorities, will accept your summer (emergence) bat survey report provided that the surveys are undertaken during the activity season for bats: April through October. Regrettably, Surrey Wildlife Trust has taken the decision to challenge consultant’s reports of bat surveys for emergence and re entry activity if they are undertaken outside of May through August. Undertaking as we do, perhaps 300 or more bat surveys in Surrey throughout each year, we have to engage Surrey Wildlife Trust many times to challenge their consultations to local planning authorities. To date, we have never had a bat survey refused in Surrey, though because Surrey Wildlife Trust adopt this unusual (and in our opinion, excessive) policy, several applicants each year come close to getting refused.
If you want to talk about your bat survey in Surrey, or perhaps Surrey Wildlife Trust have commented on your application, then call us today and book your survey while our great offer on initial bat surveys for £329 persists. It won’t last long!
