Badger survey

A Western Ecology Badger survey will identify features related to Badger activity, such as current use sett entrances, that could constitute a constraint to the proposals for your site. Our experienced ecologist has spent hundreds of hours mapping Badger activity across a range of habitats and will accurately locate sett entrances, well-worn pathways, latrine sites and evidence of forgaing. This will allow a full assessment of how Badgers are using your site.

We will provide you with a comprehensive report and where appropriate will make recommendations for impact avoidance, mitigation and post-development enhancement to ensure compliance with wildlife legislation and relevant planning policy. Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The Act states that a person is guilty of an offence if they:

1. damage a badger sett or any part of it;
2. destroy a badger sett;
3. obstruct access to, or any entrance of, a badger sett;
4. disturb a badger when it is occupying a badger sett;
5. wilfully kill, injure or take, or attempts to kill, injure or take, a badger;
6. cause a dog to enter a badger sett;
7. have in the their possession or under their control any dead badger or any part of, or anything derived from, a dead badger; or
8. cruelly ill-treat a badger, use badger tongs or dig for a badger.

There also offences related to the sale and marking of badgers, and the type of firearm to be used when legally killing a badger. In relation to developments, the most relevant parts of the Act are offences relating to a) to d) which apply to a badger sett that is in current use. Guidance on the term ‘current use’ was given by Natural England in 2009, where it was stated that: “a badger need not be in current occupation, and may not have been for some time. As long as there are signs present indicating “current use” the sett is defined as such in the Act and is therefore protected.” Natural England has also given guidance on the term ‘disturbance’ of a badger whilst occupying a sett and it is generally said to be above the level of background disturbance that they normally tolerate at a site. Activities which would not normally be considered an offence under the Act include:

• light vegetation removal at, or around, a set;
• development activities close to a sett where there is no reason to believe that the ‘disturbance’ will be greater than that which badgers in this location commonly tolerate; and
• clearing out of ditches/watercourses using machinery and/or hand tools where badger setts are present.

If an activity is likely to result in an offence being committed, a licence may be issued by Natural England to allow that activity to lawfully proceed. A licence may be granted for a number of reasons, including interference with a badger sett for the purpose of any development as defined in section 55(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. For a licence to be issued for the purpose of development, it is required that full planning permission has been granted. To show how committed we are to quality and service we have adopted BS 42020:2013 Biodiversity – Code of practice for planning and development for all of our badger surveys.