Ecological surveys for planning in Suffolk and East Anglia
The right surveys, in season, first time.
Bat, newt and reptile surveys can only happen at certain times of year. Miss the window and your planning application waits. Tell us about your site and we’ll send a fixed quote with a survey timetable built around your planning date.
It’s autumn: bat and newt survey seasons open in spring. Book now for the first dates.
Our own licensed ecologists do the fieldwork, the mapping and the report. Most planning jobs start with a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal, and it tells us what else your site needs.
Preliminary Ecological Appraisal
The first look at your site: habitats, a plant list and the potential for protected species, so you know what else is needed.
Any time of year
Biodiversity Net Gain
Baseline survey, the statutory metric and a plan to reach the 10% gain, with GIS mapping done in house.
Best April to September
Bat surveys
Roost assessments of buildings and trees, then emergence, activity and hibernation surveys with infrared cameras, and licences if bats are found.
Emergence May to September
Great crested newt surveys
eDNA sampling or full pond surveys by licensed ecologists, plus advice on District Level Licensing.
Mid March to June
Reptile surveys
Seven-visit refuge surveys for slow worms, lizards, grass snakes and adders, then translocation and habitat if they’re present.
April to October
Bird surveys
Nesting bird checks before clearance, breeding and winter bird surveys, and barn owl surveys for rural conversions.
Nesting checks March to September
Also on the team’s list
Badgers and sett closures
Barn owls and nest boxes
Water voles and otters
Botanical and NVC surveys
Electrofishing and fish rescue
Ecological clerk of works
Wildlife fencing
Artificial setts and habitat creation
New since 6 August 2026
Small site? You may not need Biodiversity Net Gain any more.
Sites of 0.2 hectares or less are now exempt, as long as the work doesn’t affect an onsite priority habitat.
Temporary development for five years or less is exempt too.
Self-build and custom build sites have lost their old exemption.
We’ll tell you in one call whether your site is exempt. If it isn’t, our team does the habitat baseline, the statutory metric and, where there’s a ditch or river, the MoRPh river condition assessment, all in house.
Source: the Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Amendments and Transitional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2026. Applications made before 6 August 2026 keep the old rules.
Specialist work
Rare snails, rivers and the lab work most ecologists send away.
The snail in our logo isn’t decoration. Toby is one of the country’s few specialists in protected molluscs, and the team identifies invertebrates down our own microscopes in Brandeston.
800little whirlpool ramshorn snails moved for Highways England and AECOM in 2016, the first translocation of its kind.
1 of 4CIEEM Registered Practices in the UK listing fish, freshwater invertebrate and river condition surveys together.
Leadsurveyors for the same snail on the RSPB’s Back from the Brink project at Pulborough Brooks.
Anisus vorticulus, the little whirlpool ramshorn snail. A European protected species.
Desmoulin’s whorl snail
Vertigo moulinsiana
Protected under the Habitats Directive (Annex II). Surveys for Kent County Council’s A28 Sturry Link Road and across Norfolk.
Narrow-mouthed whorl snail
Vertigo angustior
Found at only a handful of UK sites. One of the species we know best.
Roman snail
Helix pomatia
Protected under Schedule 5. Few consultancies survey for it. We hold the licence, and have moved whole populations for quarry restoration.
Our own lab
Aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates identified under our microscopes.
Water quality indicators
Mayfly larvae and other indicator species tell us how healthy a river is.
Our own electrofishing kit
Fish surveys and rescues before channel works, from the bank or by boat.
MoRPh-accredited surveyors
River condition assessments for the BNG rivers metric.
The team
The people who’ll walk your site.
Toby Abrehart
Director and Principal Ecologist
Toby founded Abrehart Ecology and has more than 26 years’ experience across the UK. He’s a specialist in terrestrial and aquatic molluscs and aquatic invertebrates, a skilled bird surveyor and small mammal specialist, and a FISC Level 5 botanist who was one of the main recorders for the Flora of Suffolk.
Roman snail licence
Little whirlpool ramshorn snail licence
Norfolk hawker licence
FISC Level 5
Lindsey Jennings
Director and Project Coordinator
Fee proposals, site visits and the fieldwork diary
Thomas Jordan
Senior Ecologist
ACIEEM. Bat and GCN licences, MoRPh and BNG accredited
James Roberts
Ecologist
Bat and GCN licences. Invertebrate specialist
Lewis Cassidy
Ecologist
Bat and GCN licences. Graded bat sound analyst
Josie Woods
Ecologist
Bat and GCN licences. Small mammals and reptiles
Anna Armstrong
Trainee Ecologist
Amphibians, reptiles and botany
Dave Bescoby
GIS Specialist
PhD. Maps for every report and BNG metric
Terry Stopher
Ornithologist and Field Ecologist
Bird ringing and Schedule 1 permits
Dr Simon Forster
Associate Senior Marine Ecologist
Marine invertebrates and nematodes
Every site worker holds CSCS and has completed manual handling, ladder safety, working at height and COSHH training.
What clients say
“Echelon of knowledge, best in the class.”
We have worked with Abrehart for a number of years, covering a range of projects throughout Suffolk and East Anglia. Their knowledge, advice, and expertise are second to none, which provides a real advantage for us as planning consultants in delivering sites for clients of our own.
Wilkinson Planning Planning consultants
Trusted with work for
National Trust
RSPB
Highways England, with AECOM
Kent County Council’s A28 Sturry Link Road
Architects, developers, landowners and councils across East Anglia
Fixed quote
Tell us about your site.
Two minutes now saves a wasted season later. You’ll get a fixed price for every survey your site needs, and the dates each one can happen.
Send us your sitePostcode, what you’re planning and when you hope to submit.
Fixed quote and timetableEvery visit, the report and any licence work, priced up front.
Surveys in seasonLicensed ecologists on site in the right months, booked into our fieldwork diary.
Report for planningConcise, clearly mapped and ready for your application, with licences and mitigation if you need them.
Your brief goes to Lindsey Jennings, Director and Project Coordinator, who writes the fee proposals and runs the fieldwork diary. Prefer to talk? 01728 684362
Questions
What people ask before they book.
Can’t see yours? Call the office on 01728 684362, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4.30pm.
Do I need an ecology survey for my planning application?
Often, yes. Councils ask for ecological information wherever a site could support protected species or priority habitats. A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal is usually the first step, and it tells you whether any species surveys are needed before you apply.
What is a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal?
A desk study of local wildlife records plus a walkover of your site. We map the habitats, list the plants and assess the potential for protected species, then recommend any further surveys. It can be done at any time of year, though spring and summer show the most.
When can bat surveys be done?
A preliminary roost assessment of buildings and trees can happen at any time. If it finds roost potential, emergence or re-entry surveys follow between May and September: one visit for low potential, two for moderate and three for high. Hibernation surveys run in winter.
When can great crested newt surveys be done?
Full pond surveys run from mid March to mid June, with four to six visits. eDNA water sampling runs from 15 April to 30 June and can rule newts out in one visit. In many areas District Level Licensing lets you pay into a habitat scheme instead of surveying.
Is my site exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain?
Since 6 August 2026, development on a site of 0.2 hectares or less is exempt as long as it doesn’t affect an onsite priority habitat, and so is temporary development of five years or less. Self-build and custom build sites have lost their exemption. Applications made before 6 August 2026 keep the old rules. Send us your site and we’ll tell you where it stands.
What’s included in a fixed quote?
Every survey visit your site needs, the desk study, the mapping and the report, plus any licence applications we expect. If a survey turns up something that needs more work, we’ll tell you the cost before we do it.
Do you work outside Suffolk?
Yes. Most of our work is across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, and our specialist mollusc, invertebrate and river work takes us all over the UK. Our sister company, Abrehart Ecology (Sussex), covers the South East from Pulborough.
Can you handle licences and mitigation?
Yes. We apply for Natural England licences, including bat and badger sett closure licences, and deliver the mitigation: wildlife fencing, translocations, bat and barn owl boxes, artificial setts, ponds and hibernacula, and an ecological clerk of works on site.
The barn at Bridge Farm, Brandeston, beside the River Deben.
Every survey has its season. Let’s plan yours.
Send us your site today and we’ll come back with a fixed quote and the dates your surveys can happen.
CIEEM Registered Practice 2026 to 2027
Wilkinson Planning Planning consultants
