Useful resources

Finding records of bats

• Your local biological record centre may hold information about bats recorded in the local area. Record centre details can be found at: http://www.alerc.org.uk/find-an-lerc-map.html.
• The NBN Atlas is a free online tool hosting the UK's largest collection of biodiversity information enabling data to be shared and may also hold bat records from the local area.
• Your local bat group may hold local bat records. However, please be aware that bat groups are voluntary organisations and many do not have the resources to respond to planning related enquires.

Bats and the law

You can find a summary of how bats are protected by the law here. You can also download our Bats and the Law leaflet for more details.

Complaining about a Local Authority

If you have a complaint about the way the local authority has acted (rather than the nature of the proposal) you can report it too.

The first thing to do is complain directly to the council. You can find out how to complain from the council. If you are not satisfied with the way in which the council have responded then it is best to report the action to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). In most cases, the council must have a chance to sort out the complaint before it can be taken to the LGO. However, once the LGO have received your complaints they will investigate the matter free of charge.

Full details of the complaints procedure are available on the LGO website www.lgo.org.uk