Bat surveys in Norfolk

When planning applications in Norfolk need a bat survey

Planning decisions

Planning applications in Norfolk are decided by your district, borough or city council, or the Broads Authority within the Broads.

When the council asks for a survey

Each Norfolk district sets its own list; North Norfolk asks for protected species surveys for barn conversions, demolition or roof-void works, pre-1914 buildings with gables or pantile roofs, and buildings near woodland, water or medieval churches. (North Norfolk District Council, Local Validation Requirements for Designated Sites, Priority Habitats and Protected Species)

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 Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service (NBIS), the local environmental records centre.

Local bat group

Norfolk and Norwich Bat Group is the local volunteer group that records bats in the area.

Bats recorded in Norfolk

The Norfolk and Norwich Bat Group says at least 12 bat species have been regularly recorded in Norfolk in recent years, ranging from three pipistrelle species to noctule, serotine and barbastelle.

Species named in the source

• common pipistrelle
• soprano pipistrelle
• nathusius' pipistrelle
• brown long-eared bat
• noctule
• serotine
• leisler's bat
• daubenton's bat
• natterer's bat
• brandt's bat
• whiskered bat
• barbastelle

JNCC designates Paston Great Barn, a 16th-century thatched barn at Paston, as a Special Area of Conservation because a barbastelle maternity colony roosts in cracks in its roof timbers.

Bats follow dark, sheltered routes such as rivers, canals, hedgerows and tree lines to feed and move between roosts. In Norfolk, the River Wensum, the River Yare and the River Bure 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 Norfolk 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 Norfolk. 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 Norfolk

We pass each Norfolk 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 Norwich, Cambridge and Milton Keynes.