Ecologist Michael Hattersley has recently become the registered holder of a Natural England Badger Class Licence (CL35).
‘Traditional’ badger mitigation licences are site-specific with a potentially lengthy licensing process requiring the submission of a detailed method statement, recommended mitigation measures and associated plans. Once submitted the process can then take up to 30 working days for the licence to be approved with the associated potential impacts of construction phases within developments.
However, under the new Class Licence process (and providing full planning permission is in place) it takes just 5 working days for the licence to become active; and the paperwork involved for all concerned is minimal! The licence registers individual sites with Natural England putting their trust in the Licence holder to have collected all the relevant information and decided on the best course of action based on their extensive experience of badgers and their associated ecology. Natural England say ‘only specialists with the required high level of knowledge and experience in excluding badgers will be able to register and act under this licence’ and we are proud that the skills and expertise Michael has developed over with his 10 years’ working for FPCR have been recognised by Natural England.
The licences may be used from 1st July until 30th November as is the case with the ‘traditional’ mitigation licences.
If you would like further information or think you could utilise a Class Licence, please find Michael’s contact details below, whilst further details with regards to badgers and all our other available ecological services are available here: Services.
Michael Hattersley (Lockington Office)
01509 672 772
mail@fpcr.co.uk