Seven Ways to Increase Profits From Your Development With Ecology

1. Before purchasing or committing to the site, commission an Ecological Risk Assessment to determine what ecological liabilities and opportunities may occur on site - otherwise, you risk committing to a site only to find later on that ecological restrictions bar any viable development of the site.
2. Use the Ecological Risk Assessment site plans showing the distribution of ecological risks and opportunities to help design the site - otherwise, you risk longer delays in planning and mitigation and potentially having to redesign the site at a late stage.
3. If you are going to have BREEAM/Code for Sustainable Homes ecological assessment, the ecological survey needs to be done before any clearance of the site starts - otherwise you risk losing all potential points available for ecology.
4. If you are going to have BREEAM/Code for Sustainable Homes ecological assessment, include areas in the design for retaining and adding to native plant species -the greatest proportion of the points available for ecology are concerned with increasing the number of plant species of wildlife value.
5. When commencing planning negotiations, use an Ecological Consultancy to tell you and the Local Planning Authority what and when to survey - otherwise you risk the Local Planning Authority requesting a survey just after the end of the appropriate survey season (or requesting an unnecessarily detailed survey), causing months or more of delays and costs.
6. Keep the site well maintained before development (no dumping of piles of materials etc.) - otherwise you risk protected species moving onto the site and being at risk of harm from the site works leading to more mitigation requirements and delays.
7. Carrying out significant ecological mitigation and enhancements provides good potential publicity for your development - the press like stories involving wildlife and people.

To discuss your site and requirements in more detail, please contact us today.