Survey.
Assess.
Advise.
Every project runs through the same three stages. What changes is the depth of each one — which is a decision made on site, not in a proposal template.
Survey
Desk study, then boots on the ground. Habitats mapped, features recorded, protected species potential assessed. The stage everything downstream depends on being right.
Assess
What the findings mean for the proposal as designed. Effects, constraints, seasonal windows, and where a scheme is likely to meet resistance.
Advise
Clear recommendations you can act on — avoidance, mitigation, enhancement — written for a planning officer to accept and a builder to follow.
Fig. 01Preliminary Ecological Appraisal
The baseline survey most planning applications begin with — a walkover of the site, a habitat map, and a clear view of what further work, if any, is needed.
Protected Species Surveys
Targeted survey work where a site has the potential to support legally protected species — scoped precisely, timed to the season, and reported for planning.
Fig. 02
Fig. 03Bat Surveys
Roost assessments, dusk emergence and dawn re-entry surveys, and activity work — the survey type most often requested by planning authorities.
Biodiversity Net Gain
Baseline habitat condition assessment, metric calculations and a net gain strategy that works with a scheme rather than against it.
Fig. 04
Fig. 05Habitat Assessment
UK Habitat Classification survey and condition assessment — for net gain baselines, land management planning and site appraisal.
Ecological Planning Support
Responses to consultee comments, discharge of ecological planning conditions, and advice through the application process.
Fig. 06Not sure which survey you need?
Most people aren’t. Send over the site address and a description of the works, and Bhela Ecology will tell you what is likely to be required — and what isn’t.
Discuss a
project.
Send over the site details and Bhela Ecology will advise on the survey work a project actually needs — and the season it has to happen in.