Bat Licensing
One of our core services to clients is European Protected Species (EPS) bat licensing. Although the UK left the European Union (EU) on January 31st, 2020 much of the EU legislation is still in place and will be for some time. We have built up a substantial portfolio of sites where we have managed the licensing of work affecting bats, including:
- Conversion of farm outbuildings and former industrial buildings;
- Building demolition and reconfiguration;
- Conversion and extension of domestic dwellings;
- Engineering works to bridges and tunnels;
- Refurbishment and conservation of important historic buildings and structures, including mansion houses, halls, follies, coach houses, engine and powder houses, and former mine workings;
- Repair of churches and chapels.
We guide our clients through the licensing process and have successfully obtained hundreds of EPS bat licenses. Through careful preparation of the licensing application forms and supporting documents and through our experience of acting as the Named Ecologists on licenses.
Our staff are also Registered Consultants (RCs) under Natural England’s Bat Mitigation Class licensing, BMCL; formerly known as the Bat Low-Impact Class Licensing. BMCL is a light-touch approach to licensing that is subject to meeting certain licensing conditions, and allows the removal of bat roosts of low conservation status. As RCs we can register sites under BMCL on behalf of clients, ensuring a smooth and speedy resolution when small numbers of common bat species are present.