Phase 1 Habitat Survey
Competitive, Fast, Reliable
The most common baseline ecological assessment report required by planning authorities to support your application site is a so-called Phase 1 Habitat Survey. The objective of the exercise is to catalogue and map habitats and ecological receptors within your site of proposed development, in accord with the methodology in the JNCC handbook for Phase 1 Habitat Survey; A Technique for Environmental Audit (1990.)
However, often the report undertaken, takes the form of an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey. This ‘extended’ element includes the procurement of biological records data from local offices. It further builds upon the standard survey criteria by including species lists and providing details on species such as birds, badgers, bats or reptiles which may be utilising the site and are protected by UK law, such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Habitats Regulations 2010 and EC Habitats Directive to name three of the most wide ranging and powerful statutes.
Phase 1 Habitat Surveys for Planning
Unique to your site’s characteristics, detailed protected species surveys can be recommended. These species specific surveys e.g. a bat survey are used to inform the mitigation and compensation enhancements which may need to form part of your development proposals.
Instead, the information gained from an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey can be recycled to produce an Ecological Management Plan, in order to enhance the wildlife value of the site and help architects attain ecology and land use credits for BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes assessments.
In summary then, a Phase 1 Habitat Survey will highlight the ecological risks of your site. Why is this useful? Well, knowing planning risks presented by protected habitats and species at an early stage is likely to save you time and money, as it avoids the need for tight timescale surveys and or severe programme delays.
We’d like to talk to you about your site and requirement for input from an ecologist. So, if you want a friendly, plain English discussion about how to progress your planning application in the fastest possible way, contact a ecological consultant directly. Call 08450 176950 and ask to speak with Martin O’Connor or Robert Oates.
