For advice for applications within Charnwood Borough Council or Leicester City Council, please contact the authorities directly.
Planning and Biodiversity
The link between planning and biodiversity
Ecology and biodiversity surveys
Frequently asked questions
The Ecology and Biodiversity team at Leicestershire County Council provides biodiversity advice to the planning services at:
- Leicestershire County Council
- Blaby District Council
- Harborough District Council
- Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
- Melton Borough Council
- North West Leicestershire District Council
- Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
- Rutland County Council
We comment on planning applications when consulted by the local planning authority. We advise the planners on biodiversity matters and make recommendations for how they determine the application, but we don't have the final say about the decision made by the planning authority.
The link between planning and biodiversity
Ecology or biodiversity is a material consideration when determining planning applications. This means that planning authorities must take impacts on wildlife into account when making planning decisions. They can refuse applications that cause significant harm to biodiversity, or can set planning conditions that mitigate or compensate for the harm, for example, by creating new habitats.
The weight of the material consideration depends on the significance of the affected habitat or species in a national or county-wide context, and the severity of the impact.
More information on Protected Species as a material consideration in the planning process can be found on the Natural England website.
National guidance on this can also be found on page 33 in the biodiversity and geological conservation: circular 06/2005
Protected species include:
- Bats (all species)
- Great crested newts
- Otters
- Water voles
- White-clawed crayfish
- Barn owls
- Badgers
The national policies on planning and biodiversity are on the National Planning Policy Framework – see Chapter 15.
In addition, the local planning authorities also have biodiversity or ecology policies in their local plans that you can refer to - please visit their websites to find out more:
Ecology and biodiversity surveys for planning applications
Surveys could include the following elements, depending on the nature of your development. An applicant should commission both species surveys and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) work by appointing an appropriate ecologist.
Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA)
The purpose of a preliminary ecological appraisal is to identify the ecological constraints which are present on a development site and what potential impact the proposed development may have on these. This can include protected species and habitats. The PEA should include both a desk study element and an initial site survey. It may include specific protected species surveys and/or recommendations for further survey work.
Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA)
This is a more detailed survey than a PEA. It may include follow-on protected species surveys and recommendations for protected species mitigation. It may also include information about Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that development should provide measurable net gains for biodiversity by creating or enhancing habitats to compensate for those that have been lost as a result of the proposed development. The Environment Act 2021 states that the development must provide a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain in addition to the baseline habitats recorded on site. If you can’t do this on the development site, you may have to provide off-site biodiversity net gain, either on your own land or on third party land.
The Planning Practice Guidance for Biodiversity Net Gain can be found on the Government website. This outlines the statutory framework for this process which requires the use of the DEFRA metric.
Unless yours is an identified exempt planning application you will need to provide the relevant documentation before the determination stage of the application.
Biodiversity Net Gain support documents
Advice to applicants and planning officers on the determination of planning applications requiring Biodiversity Net Gain:
Protected and priority species survey(s)
Surveys are usually requested for bats, badgers and great crested newts, but they are also sometimes needed for otters, water voles, white-clawed crayfish, barn owls, swifts or other species. There are restricted survey seasons for most species.
Where a PEA has identified the potential impact of a proposed development on protected species, appropriate surveys should be submitted with the planning application. In the case of follow-on surveys, for example bat emergence surveys, this should also be submitted in advance of the determination of the planning application. If protected species surveys are not submitted with a planning application, your application may be refused or deferred.
All protected species surveys should be carried out in accordance with national guidelines - make sure you request this when commissioning the survey.
Please note: our Great crested newt survey protocol, the Bats in building survey protocol and the Bats and lighting survey protocol are due to be updated in 2025.
Bird surveys, mitigation and nest boxes
Detailed breeding bird or wintering bird surveys are usually needed for large developments such as major housing and infrastructure, windfarms, and solar farms.
Barn owl surveys may be needed for barn conversions or demolitions of agricultural buildings, or similar. Note that barn owls often nest in modern barns as well as traditionally-built barns. Barn owls are protected by law.
Swifts are a declining species in the UK, and a priority species for conservation. Their stronghold is in urban areas, and their traditional nest sites are under threat from building conversions, management, and demolitions.
Developers and householders are sometimes required to install swift nest boxes or nest bricks in new or converted/extended buildings, in suitable location where swifts have been known to breed recently.
Bird boxes are often required as a planning condition:
Who does the surveys?
You will need to commission surveys from an independent ecological consultant. We strongly recommend that you make sure that the ecologists are members of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
We recommend you prepare a brief and give your ecologist clear information about the development you are planning, and that you ensure the ecologists have full and safe access to the site, including any buildings.
Do I need a data search?
A data search is:
- needed for large sites and major developments. Usually this will be an area covering 1-2 kilometres buffer outside the site boundary, depending on the size of development, and it should cover protected and priority species and designated sites. Some developments with potentially high indirect impacts - e.g. wind farms, major road and rail, industry, minerals and very large development - will need larger areas of data search.
- possibly needed for smaller sites, if there are good habitats on site or close by - 1 kilometre buffer around the site should be adequate.
- rarely needed for a householder application, unless the property is very large.
If your site is close to the county boundary, you may also need to commission a search from the neighbouring record centre.
Ways to search data
Usually the ecology consultant will commission the search, and it will carry a fee. The data search should be requested from the Leicestershire and Rutland Environmental Records Centre (LRERC) which has further information, including costs of standard searches.
Searches of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) are free, but can’t be used for commercial purposes, and they don't produce results that are detailed enough to use locally.
Searches of the Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC) will show some site designations, like nationally important wildlife and geological sites (Site of Special Scientific Interest, etc.), but they don't show Local Wildlife Sites which are referred to in the local plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is a wildlife crime and how do I report it?
Wildlife crime is any activity that goes against legislation protecting the UK's wild animals and plants, and should always be reported to the Police - phone 101 or visit the Leicestershire Police website.
Your local council has no powers of investigation or enforcement.
Crimes include:
- Poaching
- Hare coursing
- Persecuting badgers, birds, and bats
- Egg theft and collection
- Collecting or trading in protected species and animal products
- Not registering animals which require a licence
- Taking protected plants
- Using poisons, snares or explosives to kill or injure animals
- Animal cruelty
- Hunting with dogs
- Introducing invasive species
- Killing or capturing, damaging or destroying the habitat of any protected animal (such as a bat, badger or great crested newt)
Leicestershire Police have information on wildlife crime
There’s a protected species on a site that is due to be developed - what should I do?
Contact the planning authority or our Ecology team with your concerns.
You will need to provide some evidence of the protected species concerned - there is more information on how to do this:
Someone’s chopping trees down - what can I do?
Check with your local planning department whether a tree has a Tree Preservation Order or is in a conservation area.
If you think it is on council-owned land, contact the local council’s parks officers or tree officers.
A felling licence for woodlands may be needed from the Forestry Commission – it is quite complicated to work out when a licence is needed, but you can check and report any suspected illegal felling to them. If trees aren’t protected or woodland felling doesn’t fall under felling licence criteria, then the owner is probably within their rights to fell their tree(s).
A developer has removed/cut a hedgerow during the bird-breeding season - can you help?
This is bad practice unless the developer has asked an ecologist to check the hedge for nesting birds beforehand.
It's not illegal to remove hedges in the nesting season (generally considered to be from March to July for hedgerows and scrub).
It’s also not illegal to harm a nest, egg, or nesting bird if it can be shown that the act was the incidental result of a lawful operation which couldn't reasonably have been avoided.
If, however, the person cutting the hedge knew birds were nesting in the hedge, and cutting could have been delayed until they had finished nesting, it could be a wildlife crime. More information can be found on the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
How can I be sure that I’m not harming bats and birds if I want to re-roof my house?
If you think you have a bat roost within your property, it’s important that any works are planned to avoid harming bats. The Bat Conservation Trust have some helpful information explaining the law, what you need to consider and who to talk to for help.
If you have birds nesting within your building or under the eaves, try to plan all of the works outside of the bird-breeding season (extending between March to September for some species). If that’s not possible, you must wait until all young have fledged the nest.
If your works will destroy the place where birds are nesting, do consider adding some bird boxes for compensation. This is particularly important for species such as swifts which are a priority species within Leicestershire and Rutland.
I think I’ve seen a great crested newt - who do I need to tell?
Great crested newts are 10-16cm long and have warty skin. Other species such as the smooth newt also have crests and an orange belly, and these characteristics are not unique to the great crested newt. Further tips on identification can be found on the amphibian identification guide produced by ARG UK.
If you’ve found a great crested newt, then please share your records with LRERC.
I’ve found an orchid on a verge - how do I stop it being mown?
To report issues within Leicester or Rutland, please contact the authorities directly.
In this is in Leicestershire, please contact the highways helpdesk:
- Telephone: 0116 305 0001 (Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm, Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm)
- Fill in our online contact form
Find more information on grass cutting
You should also report your sighting to LRERC.
How can I find out what wildlife is in my area?
Leicestershire and Rutland Environmental Records Centre (LRERC) can provide you with a list of species recorded in the vicinity of your house.
For more detailed records, or for records requested to fight planning applications, this may be subject to a charge in accordance with the charging and data supply policy
Someone is polluting a watercourse - who should I tell?
Pollution incidents should be reported to the Environment Agency