Services
Services
Through many years of conducting ecological surveys all over the Midlands, our full range of ecology services is managed under best practice guidelines to meet the planning requirements of your local authority and coincide with planning applications.
Refer to our ecological consultancy and allow us to address ecological issues and offer various benefits as direct and indirect contributions to your proposed development project at an early stage in the process.
Ecology Consultancy Services
The team at Midland Ecology undertakes numerous assessments, surveys and inspections for clients, with the flexibility to assist both private and professional developers on a variety of different types of development. A strong intention to specialise in ecology services in the West Midlands means that we stay away from Northern and Southern England to focus solely on the local area and issue a knowledgeable regional or county ecologist to assist you.
Our ecologists are equipped to research your development site for additional information on ecological assets and carry out extensive assessments in person, helped by attending regular training courses, maintaining ties to Natural England and the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), and remaining involved with numerous local and national conservation projects and groups.
Services we provide include:
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW)
Ecology Surveys
With the biodiversity net gain policy becoming mandatory in February 2024 and many local planning authorities enforcing the rule ahead of time, we’ve been involved in the process of providing assessments and plans to successfully achieve BNG on West Midland development sites.
Across desk studies and field surveys, the ecological services provided will result in the creation of management plans effective in securing adequate net gains of biodiversity.
During any construction activities or practices, our ecological consultants are qualified, licensed and trained to act as an Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) and provide you with sufficient monitoring, advice and guidance.
Included in our ECoW services are building demolition, habitat creation, landscape profiling, planting and maintenance, topsoil removal, vegetation clearance, and watercourse management.
From preliminary ecological appraisals (PEAs) to ecological impact assessments (EcIAs) and all ecology surveys in between, we ensure that we cater to the potential needs of all clients regardless of the planning project or sector.
Due to the fact that we offer a wide selection of in-house ecological survey services, we can conduct a preliminary ecological appraisal or ecological impact assessment and then continue to assist with other inspections if necessary.
European Protected Species Mitigation Licence Applications
Mitigation and Compensation
Protected Species Surveys
Any processes suggested by the ecological surveyor that involve moving a protected species or destroying a habitat will first need a mitigation licence. Under certain parameters, changes to the site can then be made without breaking the law.
We can help with mitigation class licence applications submitted to Natural England, easing the process whenever barn owls, great crested newts, reptiles or another protected species is present on the site.
Upon completion of ecological services to support development on your site, compensation and mitigation proposals will be provided to you in the form of an ecology report, and with it, we will guide you through the planning system.
Across the entire process, our team will support you, all with the aim of moving your development plans along and claiming planning consent. You will come away with strategies designed for sufficiently mitigating or compensating for ecological losses.
Either as the result of a prior environmental impact assessment or based on the instructions of the local council, any number of protected species surveys may be needed to address the occupancy of listed animals or plants.
A full range of rare or invasive animal and plant surveys are conducted by Midland Ecology, including bat surveys, botanical surveys, dormouse surveys, Japanese knotweed surveys, water vole surveys and many more.
Reasons for Ecology Services
Many different circumstances can call for ecology services, but in terms of planning projects, it often boils down to the same few purposes. Developers are required to adhere to any relevant legislation that could impact their plans, and as certain ecological features are protected, corresponding assessments are likely as a way of ensuring that none are harmed, confirming this categorically to the local authority.
In addition to fulfilling duties with the local council – including the growing need for biodiversity net gain management plans – ecological assets can also pose an obstacle between a developer and a successful application for planning permission. As such, any number of preliminary ecological appraisals (PEAs), ecological impact assessments (EcIAs), protected species surveys or botanical surveys are necessary before the planning officer will grant planning consent.
Discuss Your Needs With Our Team
It could be that you are aware of which ecological surveys are needed on your site or maybe you don’t even know where to start. Whatever the situation, Midland Ecology can help, with our administration team happy to take down your details before working out what you need from our full range of ecology services, whether it’s an environmental statement (ES), protected species survey or biodiversity net gain management plans.
Feel free to speak to our team by calling us, emailing us or visiting our contact page. We can then guide you with choosing the most suitable course of action for your West Midlands development, book in any and all necessary assessments, create the corresponding reports, and ensure that you have everything you need to realistically claim successful planning applications from your local planning authority.