Ecology, Protected Species and the Planning Regime

Ecology is one of the environmental surveys for which Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) require a significant amount of information upfront, prior to validating planning applications. Even once planning has been achieved, complex licensing and mitigation requirements for various protected species can incur significant costs and time delays.

With a team of ecologists covering the east, south-east and south of England (including London), agb Environmental has developed an hour and a half long CPD seminar to offer some insight into the process of engaging, managing and understanding ecology surveys.

This seminar aims to provide a broad overview of the key issues regarding ecology and development and how to ensure that ecological constraints are overcome in the most time- and cost-effective way for the project.

We will cover why ecology needs to be taken into consideration, providing a brief overview of key legislation and planning policies. We will discuss the types of ecological surveys and reports you may require for planning applications and licensing, along with a detailed discussion around the seasonality of surveys and mitigation to allow you to plan the project.

We’ll explore some case studies of projects where ecology surveys and mitigation have been required to secure planning permission and appropriate mitigation licences.

There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss specific projects or examples that you may have, allowing you to take advantage of the experience of the trained ecologist presenters. If you would like any specific issues to be covered during the presentation, please let us know in advance and we will include this within the seminar.