SarahG Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Can anyone recommend a good company to carry out a Bat survey? We are in Surrey. We 100% don't have any bats and there have never been any, but just need a Preliminary Assessment for our planning app. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilDamo Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Where in Surrey are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahG Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 11 hours ago, DevilDamo said: Where in Surrey are you? Hi DevilDamo, thanks for the reply, we are in Elmbridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilDamo Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Try a couple of my contacts… https://www.wenman-ecology.co.uk https://arbtech.co.uk You can also try the database… https://events.cieem.net/RegisteredPracticeDirectory/Registered-Practice-Directory.aspx Another option is to look on the LPA’s website for recently validated/approved applications and see what consultants they used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indy Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 12 hours ago, SarahG said: Hi DevilDamo, thanks for the reply, we are in Elmbridge. Same as us then, we used https://deepdeneecology.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 40 minutes ago, DevilDamo said: https://arbtech.co.uk we used arbtech. very happy with their service and prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Get a few quotes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LnP Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Ask your architect or planning consultant to recommend. We were advised that the criteria for the phase 1 surveys are not completely objective, and some ecologists are more likely to require the much more expensive follow up phase 2 survey (dawn and dusk observation). Your architect or planning consultant should have had experience of the ecologists in your area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuff27 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 @SarahG why is a bat survey required, is it for an exisiting building on the site? I bought a plot with PP which included demolition of an exisiting garage. The plot owner was required to have a bat survey on the garage even though he knew after living there for 30 years that there had never been any bats inside. By the time I was ready to demolish the garage the survey (valid 2 years) had expired & under the PP conditions I was meant to have it renewed which would have cost me £800. I emailed some pics to the Council to show there were still no bats & asked if I could include 2 bat boxes on a gable end of the new house (just in case some fancied moving in!) instead of a new survey. To my surprise they agreed so I quickly demolished the garage before they changed their minds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhardt Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) On 14/02/2022 at 09:53, SarahG said: Can anyone recommend a good company to carry out a Bat survey? We are in Surrey. We 100% don't have any bats and there have never been any, but just need a Preliminary Assessment for our planning app. Thanks I don't want to scare you but I wouldn't bank on it that you only need a preliminary assessment, we had to do the preliminary assessment last year in Surrey as well and even though there were no evidence found of bats using the roof, the ecologist recommended three further surveys as there were potential for roosts. Three was later revised down to two after discussions with the architect. So we ended up doing a further two surveys, one dusk and one dawn, fortunately they couldn't find any using the roof to roost but apparently they could hear them foraging in the trees... Edited February 21, 2022 by Gerhardt spelling mistake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indy Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 8 minutes ago, Gerhardt said: I don't want to scare you but I wouldn't bank on it that you only need a preliminary assessment, we had to do the preliminary assessment last year in Surrey as well and even though there were no evidence found of bats using the roof, the ecologist recommended three further surveys as there were potential for roosts. Three was later revised down to two after discussions with the architect. So we ended up doing a further two surveys, one dusk and one dawn, fortunately they couldn't find any using the roof to roost but apparently they could hear them foraging in the trees... This is exactly what happened in our case. Even though the preliminary assessment indicated a low likelihood of the bats being present (mainly due to misaligned roof tiles), the ecologist still insisted on 1 follow up survey which turned into 2 dusk surveys. Luckily there were no roosts in the property though it seems to be used as a 'resting route' to the green belt land we have opposite our plot, which meant that we'd need a licence (the cheaper one) to begin work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LnP Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 21 hours ago, Indy said: Even though the preliminary assessment indicated a low likelihood of the bats being present (mainly due to misaligned roof tiles), the ecologist still insisted on 1 follow up survey which turned into 2 dusk surveys. Before the ecologist came round for the phase 1 survey, having checked there no bats actually there, we went round the whole place and made sure it didn't look inviting to sleepy bats. We fixed some slipped roof tiles, filled gaps with expanding foam, put chicken wire under the eves of an out house etc. The ecologist looks not only for evidence of actual bat activity, droppings etc, but also whether it looks potentially suitable for roosting. Happily the ecologist didn't recommend any further surveys. The phase 1 survey cost £540 incl VAT. They told us dawn or dusk surveys, had they been required, would have been £300 - £500 per visit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Always disappointed that these Bat Surveys never give us the unbiased opinions of the bats themselves. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 21 minutes ago, Bitpipe said: Always disappointed that these Bat Surveys never give us the unbiased opinions of the bats themselves. Totally agree, all these bat-phobic, wingist builders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 I might set up a Bat Survey company, take the fee and report back that 72% of the bats were against the development, 12% for and the rest were 'don't know'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 40 minutes ago, Bitpipe said: Always disappointed that these Bat Surveys never give us the unbiased opinions of the bats themselves. Ask a Quantum Physics to do it, then the bats will be both there, and not there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahG Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 On 15/02/2022 at 20:39, DevilDamo said: Try a couple of my contacts… https://www.wenman-ecology.co.uk https://arbtech.co.uk You can also try the database… https://events.cieem.net/RegisteredPracticeDirectory/Registered-Practice-Directory.aspx Another option is to look on the LPA’s website for recently validated/approved applications and see what consultants they used. Thanks. I tried Arbtech but they seemed expensive. I’ll contact Wenman and look through the database list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahG Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 On 15/02/2022 at 20:59, Indy said: Same as us then, we used https://deepdeneecology.co.uk Thanks, have contacted them and they are pretty good value so think we will probably use them. You had a good experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahG Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 I don’t mind paying for a preliminary assessment as I agree there has to be a regulated body that validates if there are bats or no bats. I could even stomach one emergence survey if needs be. I will be really mad if I have to fork out for more though. I am 100% confident there are no bats and have never been any bats in the house. We also have no trees on our plot and I’ve never seen a bat anywhere around here. We will see!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhardt Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 8 minutes ago, SarahG said: Thanks. I tried Arbtech but they seemed expensive. I’ll contact Wenman and look through the database list. We used Arbtech and I found them to be cheaper and more efficient than most other companies I spoke to. Tbh you should not only look at the "now" cost, you should base your planning around the total cost up to and including the potential license stage, what I found with some companies was that certain elements of the process was much cheaper than others but if it did progress to the next stage of the process they ten fold made up what they missed out on in prior stages. You can get different ecologists for different stages of the process. Also make sure you get this booked in ASAP as the surveys have to be done from May to September and May tends to be very busy as everyone wants to get it all done within the season and you also need good weather for the surveys, ours were postponed on a number of occasions due to the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahG Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 17 minutes ago, Gerhardt said: We used Arbtech and I found them to be cheaper and more efficient than most other companies I spoke to. Tbh you should not only look at the "now" cost, you should base your planning around the total cost up to and including the potential license stage, what I found with some companies was that certain elements of the process was much cheaper than others but if it did progress to the next stage of the process they ten fold made up what they missed out on in prior stages. You can get different ecologists for different stages of the process. Also make sure you get this booked in ASAP as the surveys have to be done from May to September and May tends to be very busy as everyone wants to get it all done within the season and you also need good weather for the surveys, ours were postponed on a number of occasions due to the weather. Thanks- that’s helpful. We are hoping to get it done in the next few weeks. As the council won’t validate our plans without it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indy Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 1 hour ago, SarahG said: Thanks, have contacted them and they are pretty good value so think we will probably use them. You had a good experience? Overall, I'm happy with the service received and they were the best value when I looked at the initial quotes, plus didn't charge VAT. It did however creep up from the initial £400 for the PRA, to over £1k in the end which included the 2nd and 3rd surveys. Whether those would have been avoided by going to another firm, I don't know but I've read some real horror stories about costs involved for bat surveys and licences required - so in the grand scheme of things, getting away with it for about £1100 doesn't seem that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramco Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Ours found that there might be bats around because there were a couple of clefts at the end of branches lopped off a tree - which must be a pretty poor home for a bat.... This was for a new build, not a demolition or renovation job. Planning set 2 conditions - there needs to be a couple of bat boxes. Also, 'Prior to the installation of security lighting details of any such lighting shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Borough Council, together with a lux plot of the estimated illuminance.' When we put in the application to discharge the conditions, we simply said we wouldn't be installing security lighting - result, condition discharged! ? So don't worry about a condition like that because it can be circumvented.... ;-D Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 3 hours ago, Bitpipe said: I might set up a Bat Survey company, take the fee and report back that 72% of the bats were against the development, 12% for and the rest were 'don't know'. and 3 hours ago, SteamyTea said: Ask a Quantum Physics to do it, then the bats will be both there, and not there. or do what happened to us: take someone else's survey (available online f.o.c) and then copy and paste the (suitably edited) results - present them as your own survey results. (references supplied on request). Saves a good deal of money that .... This is the key thing On 15/02/2022 at 23:49, LnP said: ... and some ecologists are more likely to require the much more expensive follow up phase 2 survey ... Choose your ecologist carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 8 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: or do what happened to us: take someone else's survey (available online f.o.c) and then copy and paste the (suitably edited) results - present them as your own survey results. That is fraud, plagiarism, dishonest and probably illegal. Would be very irritating if some little fart reported it, after reading about it on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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