Commercial - from consultants, solicitors and local
authorities
Non-commercial - from members of the public, volunteer
recorders, landowners looking to manage their land for nature
conservation, students and other researchers
For commercial data searches a charge is made to cover the cost of
staff time, printing materials and postage. There is no charge for the
actual data. We do not usually charge for non-commercial enquiries,
however, if a request takes several hours to complete or involves high
printing or postage costs a small charge may be levied.
If you wish
to make an enquiry please download and complete the following
Information Request form, which can be emailed back to us. This form has been designed for
commercial data searches and must be completed before we will release any data. If you have any queries about
completing the form, or would like to find out more about the
information available, please contact us.
IMPORTANT: BMERC does not provide planning advice and will
not offer an opinion as to whether a planning application
should be approved or refused.
This file is an Microsoft Word document.
Microsoft Office software is required to view this
file.
If you cannot view this document please contact BMERC
for a paper copy.
When completing the Information Request Form please bear in mind the following.
Search area
A data search usually covers either a specific area or a selected
site, point or line with a specified buffer. If you provide us with a
map clearly highlighting the area you are interested in and an
accurate grid reference it helps us to locate the site quickly and
ensures that there is no confusion over the area you are interested
in.
Data
Data most commonly requested includes information about statutory
and non-statutory sites and details of protected species and other
notable species records.
If we know the reasons for a site designation these will be passed
on. However, please note that we are not a designating authority.
Please note that we will not release records where it
might be to the detriment of wildlife or where we suspect that the
information will be used to interfere illegally with protected
species.
If you would like details of protected species records you must
complete the section of the Information Request Form about your reason
for requesting data and what the data will be used for in as much
detail as possible. This helps us to determine legitimate requests.
Format
Information is usually provided in the form of GIS maps, site
summaries and species lists. However, we can also
provide distribution maps and general information about a habitat or
species (drawn from published sources). Information is provided in paper
format or Acrobat (.pdf) format. If you wish to obtain
large datasets or computerised information please contact
BMERC.
Charges
A charge is made to cover the cost of staff time, printing
materials and postage. There is no charge for the actual data and any
payment made does not confer exchange of copyright of the data.
Our standard charge is £60 per hour plus VAT,
with a minimum charge for a single enquiry of £60 plus VAT. We aim to
complete and send the results of an average enquiry within 10 working
days; if you would like the information urgently a 50% surcharge will
be levied. If a search results in the absence of any data the charge
will be discounted by 50%.
