It’s been a busy start to the year for RammSanderson and to bring you some good news, we are delighted that our Principal Consultant Joe McLaughlin has been successfully registered under Annex B of the Bat Mitigation Class Licence (BMCL).
Formerly known as the Bat Low Impact Class Licence (BLICL), the aim of BMCL is to provide a more efficient and proportionate approach to licensing for sites where bats may be present but under ‘low impact’ scenarios.
BMCL registration requires extensive, demonstrable experience and by obtaining his registration, Joe joins a select group of consultants across the nation able to deliver such work.
Key Features of Bat Mitigation Class Licences (BMCL)
- The licence can be used all year round by the Registered Consultant (RC) and requires the RC to register the site concerned.
- A site has to be registered a minimum of 3 weeks, and no more than 12 weeks, prior to undertaking any licensable works.
- Licences will be granted for the period of the licensable works – usually this is 2-3 months and never more than about 6 months.
- A decision on whether to accept the registration of the site will be made by Natural England within 10 workings days.
Now that Joe has achieved BMCL our clients with qualifying bat roosts/conditions on their sites will now also be able to [take advantage of/access] the benefits of this class of licence.
The benefits include;
- Reduced turnaround time for Natural England review (2 weeks for BMCL vs 6-8 weeks at present for traditional licences)
- Reduced client cost for Natural England’s registration review where exemptions don’t apply (£130 for BMCL vs £500+ for traditional licences)
- Greater flexibility with regards to compensation requirements
Commenting, Joe said “I am obviously really looking forward to making use of this very useful new tool to help existing RammSanderson clients but also attract potential new clients who are experiencing planning and development constraints due to the presence of bats.”
RammSanderson are Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage and Natural Resources Wales licensed bat ecologists and have extensive experience in completing Protected Species Mitigation Licence applications for a range of development types and scales involving a range of bat species throughout the UK.
If we can help you on one of your next future development projects, please get in touch by calling 0115 9302493 or emailing info@rammsanderson.com