Otters and Water Voles are protected species, as is any place they may shelter. Both can be found along water bodies, ditches, marshes and canals.
Otters prefer larger water bodies to forage and can also be found along the coast, and they require suitable terrestrial habitats for breeding holts.
Water voles, however prefer steep, vegetated banks that provide suitable foraging and burrowing habitats.
It is a consideration of the Local Planning Authority (LPA) that appropriate measures have been undertaken during the planning process to consider the impacts on otters and water voles when determining an application.
The survey aims to establish individuals' presence or likely absence and if they are breeding.
If you, your architect, planning agent or the LPA consider there is a likelihood of otter or water vole being present, then a survey must be conducted.
Feel free to contact us for further advice.
An otter survey can generally be conducted at any point in the year, providing weather conditions haven't been wet or snowy in the days and weeks before.
Water Vole however, their checks should be completed twice, once between mid-April to June and again from July to September.
The report typically includes:
A description of the site
Background ecological records
The survey methodology
Weather conditions at the time of and leading up to the survey
Habitat assessment
Survey findings
Photographs of notable feautures
Plans showing the survey locations
Assessment of potential impacts
Recommendations
Mitigation measures where necessary
Any suitable waterbodies are checked for field signs of water vole to determine presence/likely absence.
Any key features within 2m of the waterbody are recorded, including bank substrate, marginal vegetation, water depth/width and shading. Field signs may include footprints, droppings, burrows, feeding signs or pathways.
Any suitable waterbodies are checked for field signs of otters along the banks to determine presence/likely absence. These may include spraints, tracks, feeding remains, slides or holts.
If a potential holt is located, it may need to be monitored using a camera trap to determine if it is currently being used by breeding otters.
Once the appropriate survey effort has been completed for your project, a report must be written to support your planning application. The report will detail information about the surveys, background data for the project area, findings from the surveys, what impact the development will have on these findings and recommendations to mitigate these impacts.
If it is found that otter or water vole are present, then a mitigation licence will need to be obtained from Natural England to enable the project to proceed legally.
If we find an otter or water vole in your proposed habitat then that doesn't necessarily mean the end of your project. What will most likely happen is a suggested alteration to your plan in order to accommodate for or make suitable measures to not disturb the otters or water vole.
This could be as simple as changing work times so as to not disturb them, protecting retained habitat during the construction period, moving/creating new habitat to move them to or enhancing their habitat once construction is completed.
If you are unsure about any of this then our ecologists can advise you through the process and assist with reccomendations and documentation to make sure your project can go ahead.