What Other Consents and Licences Do You Need?
Planning permission is the most well known consent for many of us, but it’s far from the only approval you may need when developing or extending your property. We’re going to take a look at a few of the common consents and licences you may need and how they work together, focusing on Scottish legislation.
If you take one message from this, let it be this: Even with planning permission, you may need additional consents such as building warrants, listed building consents, or protected species licences. It is always worth finding out what you will need as early in project planning as possible!
How to Check Your Bat Surveyors Credentials
We are frequently asked to help our clients resolve problems caused by sub-standard bat surveys. Sadly, as with many industries, it can be tricky to establish the bona fides of someone marketing their bat surveying services. Our founder, David Dodds, has some advice for spotting potential red flags from ecologist and ecology companies, and what to look for instead…
All About Bat Boxes
Where development or building works will result in a bat roost being destroyed (under licence - it’s illegal to disturb or destroy a bat roost without a licence) we can create artificial bat roosts as an alternative for the bats. By creating these compensatory roosting opportunities, we ensure your development complies with the law and local bat populations are able to carry on living as they would normally.
One of the ways we create a compensatory roost is by using bat boxes, but not all bat boxes are the same.
Bats and Scottish Architecture
Just as you can tell the difference between an Aberdonian street and one from the Scottish Borders, so do Scottish bats! The differences in materials, building techniques and structural features across Scotland have a considerable influence on the roosting opportunities for bats. While your house may break the regional mould, here are some trends we’ve spotted across Scotland and how they impact if bats will roost in your property…
Meet Scottish Bats
Scottish bats range from 5g pipistrelles, to Noctules with a 35cm wingspan. Here’s a quick introduction to the bats who call Scotland home!
Are Bats Pests or Pest Controllers?
Far from being a pest, bats are key pest controllers. For starters, they play a key role in reducing midge populations!
Bat surveys and planning for new developments
We are frequently asked how bat surveys will impact the planning process, so here’s a summary of the things you need to know. Of course, this is general advice - if you’d like our advice on your development or proposed site contact us on admin@daviddoddsassociates.com.
Successful bat mitigation for the Landmark Trust
It is absolutely possible to balance conserving architecture with conserving bat populations. The Landmark Trust is reopening Saddell Castle in September 2025 following successful bat mitigation and a complete renovation of the property.
How technology helps us understand bats
Bats can be hard to see, hard to hear, and hard to tell apart. We use a range of tech on every survey we do, and plenty more has been used to inform how we do bat surveys and the steps we take to help you when there’s a bat roost on your property.
Blind as a bat? debunking bat myths
‘Blind as a bat’ dates back to Aristotle, but is there any truth to this bat myth?
Bat roosts in trees
All Scottish bat species will use trees to roost. Identifying tree roosts can be challenging, especially in summer when leaves can make for tricky viewing. Fortunately, there are some features and signs we can use to identify roosts (and roost potential) when conducting tree surveys.
Why Are Hibernacula so important?
Over winter, many of our native mammals ‘power down’ and rest to conserve energy. For some, this is a reduction in activity and tendency towards staying in their shelters. For bats and hedgehogs (and dormice in the south of England) this is a huge physiological change, resulting in a dramatically reduced metabolism, with decreased body temperature, breathing and heart rates. This change is known as hibernation, and is a distinct adaptation to conserve energy.
How do bats choose roosts in urban areas?
Understanding how bats choose where to roost is where we start with your bat surveys. This blog is a basic overview, so if you think you might have bats roosting and they’ll be impacted by a renovation or development, get in touch with us today.
Getting Help with a Problem Bat Roost
If you are currently having problems with a bat roost, please get in touch with us on our website. If you have a bat in your home or have found a grounded bat, please reach out to the National Bat Helpline through the Bat Conservation Trust.
How do you get a licence for a bat roost?
You need a licence for your home renovation or development project. Here’s a quick look at the licensing process so you know what to expect.
Hair-Raising Bat Myths: What If It Gets in My Hair?!
Have you ever been worried about a bat getting in your hair? Well, we’re here to reassure you that is extremely unlikely to happen!
Preserving a bat hibernation site
Middleton Quarry was being infilled with over 600,000 tonnes of spoil from a railway project. To protect bats hibernating in the quarry we balanced engineering and ecology to create a bespoke solution.
Are Vampire bats real?
Another blog, another bat myth busted. This time, vampire bats - are they real? And if so are you likely to encounter one?
From Flappy Mouse to Bat: A Linguistic Journey
Why are bats called bats? Take a look at the etymology behind ‘bat’, and the entertaining names for bats in other languages.