Protected species and the demolition method statement

A demolition method statement for a building with protected species has one purpose: to make sure that the way the building comes down does not kill or injure anything the law protects, and that the site can prove it afterwards. It is a construction document, not an ecological one, and it fails most often because it was written for an ecologist to read rather than for a demolition foreman to follow on a wet Tuesday.

Write it as a sequence of operations with named responsibilities, weather limits, stop points and a record at each step. If a competent site manager cannot brief it from the page in ten minutes, it is not finished.

What the statement has to control

Five things, and each has a legal hook behind it.

The sequence of removal, so that features capable of supporting bats come off by hand before anything mechanical touches the building. All bat species are European protected species under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place is an offence whether or not a bat is present at the time.

The timing, so that works avoid the bird breeding season or are preceded by a nesting check. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to damage or destroy a nest while it is in use or being built.

The supervision, so that a named ecologist is present at the operations where a find is credible and reachable at the ones where it is not.

The stop points, so that work halts on a find rather than continuing while someone makes a phone call.

The records, so that the planning condition can be discharged and any licence return can be made.

Where a badger sett, a great crested newt population or reptiles are involved, each brings its own regime and its own licensing route, and the statement should deal with them separately rather than folding them into a single paragraph about wildlife.

Soft strip sequencing under supervision

Soft strip is where almost all the risk sits, because it is the operation that opens the features bats use.

A workable sequence on a domestic scale building.

1. Pre-works check by the ecologist, within the period the licence or method statement specifies, recording conditions and any change since survey.
2. Toolbox talk to the whole crew, delivered by the ecologist, with a sign-in sheet retained.
3. Internal soft strip of non-structural fittings, avoiding the roof void until it has been cleared.
4. Hand removal of ridge tiles, hip tiles and lead flashing, one at a time, each inspected before it is set down.
5. Hand removal of roof coverings working from the ridge down, with battens and felt lifted rather than pulled.
6. Hand removal of soffits, fascias, barge boards and hanging tiles, levered off slowly from one end so that any bat behind them is exposed rather than crushed.
7. Inspection of exposed timbers, mortice joints, gaps at the wall plate and any cavity, recorded before structural work starts.
8. Mechanical demolition only once the ecologist has signed off the cleared structure.

Weather and temperature matter. Hand stripping in cold conditions risks disturbing torpid bats that cannot fly away, so the statement should set a temperature threshold and a season, and say who decides on the day.

The equivalent sequencing questions for ground level species follow different windows entirely, and the temperature dependence set out for reptile surveys and refugia visits applies to reptile clearance in the same way.

Stop work triggers and who decides

Write the triggers as a short list on a single page, laminated, on the welfare unit wall.

Work stops in the affected area if a bat is seen, alive or dead. If droppings, urine staining, feeding remains or scratch marks are found where they were not expected. If a nest is found, in use or under construction. If a badger sett entrance is exposed. If any animal is uncovered that the crew cannot confidently identify.

Then say what happens next, in order: work stops in that area only, the area is left undisturbed, the site manager is told, the named ecologist is contacted on a number written on the sheet, and nothing resumes until the ecologist confirms in writing or attends.

One person on site must have the authority to stop work without asking anyone. Name them in the statement, and name the deputy.

Where a find means the works fall outside what the licence covers, a licence variation is needed before continuing. That takes time, and building a contingency for it into the programme costs less than pretending it will not happen.

Toolbox talks and briefing the contractor

The talk should be short, specific and repeated whenever new operatives join.

Cover what the species look like, where on this building they are likely to be, what a droppings deposit looks like on a joist, what to do on a find, who to call, and the fact that the offences are personal. That last point changes behaviour more than anything else in the briefing. An operative who understands that the offence attaches to them, not only to the company, stops rather than sweeps.

Keep the sign-in sheets. They are the evidence that the briefing happened, and they are the first thing asked for if something goes wrong.

Records kept during the works

The record set is small but it has to be contemporaneous.

Photographs should show a scale and a recognisable part of the building. A close-up of a joist with nothing else in frame proves nothing six months later.

How the licence and the planning condition interact

They are separate consents with separate authors and they must not contradict each other.

A European protected species mitigation licence is granted by Natural England, and the method statement submitted with the application becomes part of the licence. Once granted, that document is binding. Doing something better than it says is still a departure from it.

The planning condition usually requires the development to be carried out in accordance with the mitigation strategy, and requires evidence of implementation before occupation or within a stated period. The two documents should therefore be the same document, or one should incorporate the other by reference.

A practical order of events for a barn conversion with a confirmed roost.

1. Survey to the current standard, in season, establishing roost type and status. That work has to be done by a licensed ecologist under the protected species survey regime.
2. Mitigation designed into the drawings, not bolted on, with roost features in the permanent structure.
3. Planning permission granted with the mitigation condition.
4. Licence applied for, with the derogation tests addressed and the method statement attached.
5. Licence granted, works carried out under supervision, records kept.
6. Evidence pack submitted to discharge the condition, and the licence return made to Natural England.

Do not apply for the licence before permission is granted. The derogation tests include whether there is a satisfactory alternative, and that question is difficult to answer while the scheme could still change.

Discharging the condition afterwards

The evidence pack that gets accepted first time contains the supervision logs, the photographic record keyed to a plan, an as-built drawing showing the installed roost and nest features with positions and heights, product details for any integrated units, the licence return or a copy of it, and a short covering statement from the ecologist confirming the works were carried out in accordance with the approved strategy.

Where features have been installed in different positions from those approved, say so and explain why. Authorities accept sensible site changes readily and react badly to discovering them later.

Assessment of the wider effects on populations, as distinct from the individual animals on site, is a separate exercise, and the way significance of effects is judged in an ecological impact assessment sits behind both the licence and the condition.

Surveys, licence applications and supervision for protected species require a suitably licensed ecologist under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and a draft document is a starting point for that professional rather than a substitute. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.