Bat surveys in Dorset

When planning applications in Dorset need a bat survey

Planning decisions

Planning applications in Dorset are decided by Dorset Council, or BCP Council in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

When the council asks for a survey

Dorset's local list requires a biodiversity checklist with full, householder, outline and listed building applications; its answers set which surveys are needed, and surveys that cannot be done in season make an application invalid. (Dorset Council, National and Local List of Validation Requirements, Planning Applications (Requirement 23, ecological surveys and reports))

Bat licences

Licences for work affecting a roost are issued by Natural England.

The law

Bats and their roosts in England are protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, even when no bats are present.

Local bat records

Ecologists check which bats have been recorded near your site with a data search from Dorset Environmental Records Centre (DERC), the local environmental records centre.

Local bat group

Dorset Bat Group is the local volunteer group that records bats in the area.

Bats recorded in Dorset

Dorset Bat Group says all 17 of the UK's breeding bat species occur in Dorset, among them Daubenton's, Natterer's, pipistrelle and long-eared bats.

Species named in the source

• daubenton's bat
• pipistrelle
• natterer's bat
• long-eared bat

A National Trust project with the Dorset Bat Group has fitted grilles to Studland's Second World War bunkers, where greater horseshoe bats have been found at Fort Henry; a Trust ecologist says 15 of the UK's 17 breeding bat species breed in Purbeck.

Bats follow dark, sheltered routes such as rivers, canals, hedgerows and tree lines to feed and move between roosts. In Dorset, the River Frome, the River Stour and the River Piddle are the kind of places bats feed and travel through, so older buildings and mature trees nearby are more likely to need follow-up surveys after a preliminary roost assessment.

Preliminary roost assessments, emergence surveys and costs

Most projects in Dorset start with a preliminary roost assessment. On larger or greenfield sites, bats are usually covered first by a preliminary ecological appraisal, which checks for other protected species too. If the assessment finds potential roost features or evidence of bats, bat emergence surveys follow, with surveyors using bat detectors to watch the building at dusk. They only run between May and September, so book the assessment early in the year to keep any follow-up surveys inside one season.

Typical UK prices from Checkatrade's bat survey cost guide, last updated November 2024. Your ecologist quotes for your site.

If bats are found: mitigation and licences

Finding roosting bats rarely stops a project in Dorset. Your ecologist sets out mitigation in the survey report, such as bat boxes or replacement roost spaces and timing works around the bats, and once planning permission is granted applies to Natural England for a European protected species licence. Lower-impact cases can use Natural England's bat mitigation class licence instead, through an ecologist registered to it.

Your bat ecologist in Dorset

We pass each Dorset enquiry to one vetted ecologist who covers your site, holds the licences Natural England requires and carries professional indemnity insurance. You get an email naming them before your details are shared, and they quote you directly. We are paid a referral fee by that business, as set out in how our partner network works.

We also arrange bat surveys in Bath, Southampton and Exeter.