Once full planning has been granted an EPS Mitigation Licence for development can be applied for. Since licensing was introduced Jones & Sons have successfully applied for over 100 of these licences and have therefore wide and varied experience from many different projects and the details needed to satisfy the criteria of an application.

 

There are now two types of  licence, the original type WML A13 or standard application. This licence type covers all types of roost and species of bats. These forms can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bats-apply-for-a-mitigation-licence

 

The second type of licence is called a LOW IMPACT LICENCE. This type of licence covers sites where there are small numbers of bats from a restricted list of species and there is no nursery colony present.

 

The licence application takes the information gathered by the survey works together with the other details that went into the planning application and presents them in a format acceptable to Natural England. There will normally be parts of the application which require more detail than that provided at the planning level.

 

Important Things to Note

 

1. Most importantly keep in mind the timetable of the year. Exclusion of bats prior to works may need to take place before the winter sets in or the works will be delayed until the spring. See typical time table.

2. For WML A13 applications Natural England normally take approximately 40 WORKING DAYS to decide an application from the date it is sent to them. There is no upper limit to how long they can take and times frequently vary upwards depending on their work load.

3. For LOW IMPACT LICENCE applications Natural England only take 10 WORKING DAYS.

4. In order to prevent the application being refused it is important to allow sufficient time to fully reason out the application. This will produce a lead time prior to submission. The amount of time the application preparation will take will depend on the complexity of the project and the availability of all the required documentation.

5. If an application is refused Natural England will say why. A re-submission will take Natural England approximately a further 30 WORKING DAYS to consider once any issues raised by them have been addressed.

 

May  - July Bat Survey

 

June/July Submit Plannning

 

July /August Planning Granted

 

August Licence Application Sent

 

October Licence Granted

 

November Cut Off Point for Bat Exclusion