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    Palgrave Community Centre Wind Turbine, Suffolk, England

    Bats Protected Species Survey Renewable Energy renewable-energy-case-studies Small Wind Wind Energy

    July 2017 - January 2018

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    We were commissioned in the summer of 2017 to undertake bat surveys relating to a small wind turbine located in the recreational playing field in Palgrave, north Suffolk.
    ​The turbine had been erected in 2010 and was successfully operating and generating energy and income for the local community centre.... but it had been erected slightly in the wrong place!
    In fact it was actually located 6m further from a hedge than it should have been.  
    ​The aim was to determine whether the turbine was adversely affecting bat activity in its current location, and to assess the risk of moving it 6m closer to the hedge.
    ​We used a combination of bat activity transects and static bat detectors to build up a picture of bat activity along the nearby hedge and at the turbine itself. The evidence was clear and provided confidence that the bats were unaffected by the existing location and that moving it closer to the hedge would increase the risk that foraging activity could be affected and that bats may be at risk of collision. 
    Testimonial from Phil Dyer from Palgrave and District Community Centre:

    “ The Palgrave and District Community Centre hired Huckle Ecology in 2017 to carry out  bat surveys, involving bat activity transects and the use of bat recorders over a period of 3 months.
    The report was delivered on time, it was comprehensive, detailed and in plain English. The data provided  us with a picture of bat activity along the hedgerow, as well as at the turbine itself.  The data was combined into a report which provided independent scientific advice as to whether the movement of the turbine closer to the hedgerow would be likely to result in an impact on the bats, either on individual bats or on local populations.
    I can honestly say that the report and its findings were fundamental in our success for our case, as the Planning Committee considered it irrefutable evidence of potential impact to bats should we be forced to move the turbine towards the hedgerow and allowed us to retain the turbine in its present position. This has saved the Community Centre at least £12000 and has meant no further ecological and environmental impact through having to move it.
    The Trustees of the Community Centre Charity, will remain very grateful for Jon for his hard work, diligence and professionalism”
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    New Standing Advice from Natural England on Ancient Woodland and Veteran Trees

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    In November 2017, Natural England updated the Standing Advice relating to Ancient Woodland and Veteran Trees - this advice has been tweaked in January 2018 to revise some of this advice.
    The standing advice recognises that ancient woodland, and trees classed as 'ancient', 'veteran' or 'aged' are irreplaceable and take hundreds of years to establish.
    ​In November 2017, the standing advice suggested a 50m buffer should be applied between development and ancient woodland - to mitigate effects of trampling and pollution on the woodland habitat, rather than to individual trees.
    ​This has been revised (January 2018) following feedback received and reverts to the previous position, which includes:  "leaving an appropriate buffer zone of semi-natural habitat between the development and the ancient woodland or tree (depending on the size of the development, a minimum buffer should be at least 15 metres)"

    What is Standing Advice?
    Standing advice is important as it represents the 'standard' guidance provided by Natural England and should be taken into account when making decisions on planning applications.  As such, standing advice is a material planning consideration  and has the same authority as individual responses to planning applications. 
    ​The Standing Advice relating to ancient woodland and veteran trees can be viewed here. 
    In relation to veteran trees, the advice updated in November 2017 has not been amended.  This advice introduced a key recommendation for a "buffer zone at least 15 times larger than the diameter of a veteran tree or 5m from the edge of its canopy, if that’s greater" and "protecting veteran trees by designing open space around them".
    ​This is potentially important for developers as it is an increase on the maximum root protection area of 15m recommended by the arboricultural British Standard, BS 5837).

    ​For further information, please feel free to contact us on info@huckleecology.com or call us on 01379 890770.
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    Choosing an Ecology Survey or Ecological Assessment! How can you work out what you need?

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    The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (or CIEEM) has recently published a guide to ecological surveys and their purpose, which aim to provide guidance for those undertaking preliminary ecological surveys and appraisals.  Click on the image below or here to access the guidance on the CIEEM webpage.
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    The guidance clearly sets out the approach needed to ensure that planning applications are compliant with statutory legislation relating to nature conservation as well as planning policy, including those policies specified in local plans, as well as in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). 
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    ​I see this guidance as reflecting the approach that I have successfully developed and applied in nearly 20 years of working as a professional ecologist.

    ​Essentially, there are two key stages within a Ecological Impact Assessment process that culminate in an EcIA report that accompanies a planning application.
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    ​1. A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA), which normally comprises a desk study and a high-level ecological survey of the site, often using a method known as an Extended Phase 1  Habitat Survey.
    ​The aim of this survey is to identify the ecological features present, or potentially present, with a Site or its surrounding area.
    ​A PEA Report may be produced but is seldom sufficient for planning purposes as its aim is to determine whether further surveys (often referred to as Phase 2 Surveys) are required or to inform the design team on any ecological issues that may need to be considered within the proposed scheme.  A PEA can be used to scope the ecological issues relevant to a site; where a Site may be very straight forward, with no significant ecological issues, a PEA report may be sufficient.

    ​2. An Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) is the process used to assess the likely significant effects of any development project or scheme on the ecological features and biodiversity that could be affected. This involves the survey information obtained from an extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey as well as any further Phase 2 surveys that may be required, for example, for birds, reptiles, amphibians (such as great crested newt) or mammals (bats, otters, water voles etc).  To accompany a planning application, an EcIA report is prepared that should be structured based on guidance set out in CIEEM's Guidelines for Ecological Report Writing to provide the appropriate level of information to the planning decision-maker sufficient to answer the following questions:
    • does the project accord with relevant planning policy and legislation?
    • Is any mitigation and/or compensation required? If so, what is proposed and how can it be secured?
    • What are the overall outcomes for biodiversity if the project goes ahead?

    For more information about ecological surveys and/or assessments, please feel free to contact us for an informal, no obligation discussion, where I would be happy chat about these issues further.
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