Planning Services
Avian Ecology offer full planning services for the private and public sectors. Our highly skilled team possess an in-depth knowledge of the planning process and offer complete support from project conception through to consent. We ensure that client objectives are fully understood and prioritised, and provide robust and pragmatic advice to achieve successful results.
For the private sector, we appreciate that provision of surveys and impact assessment reporting is only part of our role. To help you to gain planning consent, we provide the extra input and advice needed to anticipate potential issues and then offer adaptable and integrated solutions, minimising costs and delays. Succinct and robust documentation is paramount, along with purposeful liaison with regulators and key organisations.
We also provide planning support for the public sector, typically working with local authorities where they require additional technical expertise for a specific planning application or project. We understand the responsibility of legislative and planning compliance and readily work within the public sector environment. Our collaborative approach involves all relevant parties and seeks to minimise planning complexities and costs.
We provide a comprehensive suite of ecology surveys across the UK through our team of experienced and qualified ecologists. We are resourced (and licensed where necessary) to carry out the full range of surveys, from baseline habitat surveys to detailed vegetation community mapping, and from extensive ornithology studies to specialist surveys for protected species. We follow recognised methodologies or can prepare bespoke survey plans for an individual project or site. All our fieldwork information is delivered in succinct and focused reports with clear outcomes.
Our Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEAs) identify potential ecological issues early on in the planning process, or help to demonstrate that ecology does not present a material constraint where further survey work is unnecessary. PEAs typically comprise desk and/or an extended Phase 1 habitat survey. Our concise reports outline any potential for ecological constraints and include recommendations to ensure legislative and planning policy compliance, enabling a smooth planning application. As ever, our objectives are to provide clear, robust advice and to facilitate the planning process.
Environment Statements for wind farms should include a quantitative estimate of collision risk for all bird species present on the site. We have extensive experience undertaking Collision Risk Modelling (CRM) for our wind farm projects to determine the species and level of risk and will work with the project team to minimise this risk through scheme design and the incorporation of mitigation measures, as required.
