Survey Access and Land-Entry Records

Check the exact title, date, sender, company, project, legal provision, land description, plan, proposed entry date, response deadline and named contact.

Do not treat an informal access request, survey licence, Notice of Intended Entry, wayleave proposal, servitude, compensation document or compulsory-powers notice as the same thing.

Keep the envelope, proof of delivery and a complete copy of every page.

Ask whether the visit involves a walkover, photography, species survey, drone, topographical work, water or soil sampling, archaeology, geophysics, boreholes, trial pits, machinery, stakes, monitoring equipment or vegetation cutting.

For each activity ask why it is needed, where it will occur, how long it will take, what disturbance it may cause, whether samples or equipment remain and how the land will be reinstated.

A walkover should not quietly become intrusive ground investigation.

For boreholes, trial pits or similar work ask for coordinates, depths, machinery, working-area size, access route, soil handling, groundwater controls, pollution procedures, fencing, livestock protection, reinstatement and equipment-removal dates.

Ask what planning or permitted-development position is relied upon and whether environmental, archaeology, private-water, services or contaminated-land issues have been checked.

Ask visitors to carry identification, written authority from the licence holder, contractor details, project reference and relevant method statement.

Record names, employer, arrival and departure times, registration numbers, equipment and areas visited. This is ordinary accountability, not hostility.

Ask for the entrance, vehicle and walking routes, parking, turning and any crossing of drains, ditches or watercourses.

Flag crops, soft ground, weak tracks, gates, livestock, field drains, pipes, septic systems, archaeology, overhead or underground services, bee colonies and disease-control areas.

Request written confirmation of each visit where possible. A broad notice should not become indefinite unannounced access.

Ask where boots, tools and vehicles were previously; whether they will arrive visibly clean; how cleaning and disinfection will be handled; whether equipment is shared between holdings; and where wash water will go.

Raise specific risks such as Potato Cyst Nematode, Clubroot, livestock disease or invasive plants in writing. Ask who supervises the protocol and what happens after a breach.

Do not make public contamination allegations without evidence.

Before access, photograph crop stage, ground condition, entrances, existing wheel marks, gates, drains and the agreed route.

Ask whether the visit can avoid crops or saturated ground, whether vehicles are necessary, who repairs ruts and drainage, how crop loss is measured and who pays.

Agree gate control, stock movement, dog and drone restrictions, vehicle speed, noise limits and emergency arrangements for escaped or injured animals.

Identify sensitive information privately: wells, springs, boreholes, pipes, tanks, drains, septic systems, historic features and vulnerable species locations.

Ask whether baseline water testing, archaeological method statements, stop-work procedures or species-specific safeguards are required.

Do not publish exact private-water, archaeology or vulnerable-wildlife locations.

Ask the purpose, area, date, height, data controller, who receives the imagery, retention period and how unrelated homes, gardens and domestic activity will be excluded.

Do not interfere with a drone. Raise privacy or safety concerns through the operator, project promoter or appropriate regulator.

Create a dated baseline of tracks, verges, crops, drains, fences, gates, walls, watercourses and ground condition.

After the visit check for ruts, compaction, crop loss, broken drains, damaged fences, disturbed features, waste, contamination or equipment left behind.

Report problems promptly in writing. Ask who inspects, when repairs begin, what reinstatement standard applies, how later damage is handled and whether reasonable professional fees are covered.

Keep one combined log across projects and contractors. Record project, purpose, date, people, vehicle, equipment, areas visited, damage and follow-up.

Ask whether visits can be coordinated, previous data reused and high-pressure farming periods avoided. Early surveys may be temporary; their effects on land, livelihoods and trust may not be.

Seek advice promptly if the notice is unclear, the land description is wrong, the occupier may not have been properly served, intrusive work is proposed, access could seriously affect a business, tenancy issues exist, water or biosecurity risks are substantial, damage occurs, compensation is disputed or permanent rights are being discussed.

Possible advisers include a solicitor, chartered surveyor, land agent, agricultural or tenant-farming adviser, insurer or relevant membership body.