Biodiversity

Many businesses have been working to accommodate the many changes to rules and regulations before the Environment Act comes fully into effect in 2023. New regulations outlined by schemes such as biodiversity net gain, for example, have several advantages for business owners who own land. However, business owners need to be prepared for the oncoming changes.

In its Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB), the government puts huge emphasis on its commitment to ensuring that town and country planning regimes contribute to addressing the issues of protecting the environment and tackling climate change.

Biodiversity is the most complex and vital feature of our planet. However, despite its importance, biodiversity has been in trouble for some time, with humans interfering with, and damaging valuable ecosystems.

Curlews are currently in decline in the UK and have been classified as a ‘Red List’ species since 2015 by the RSPB, indicating that it is a high conservation concern. The decline is largely due to habitat loss and degradation, as well as changes in land use practices and the impacts of climate change. The Breeding Bird Survey from the RSPB recorded significant declines in Scotland and England of 42 per cent between 1995 and 2008, while the British Trust for Ornithology highlighted in a 2006 survey that there was a rapid decline in Wales due to low breeding success.

An application for the development of 50 homes near Haslemere, Surrey, has been approved, with the help of the Engain team.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is reminding landowners and developers that mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) rules are set to be enforced in November.
The Government will provide further legislation and guidance in due course, as will the West of England Combined Authority.

A large infrastructure project required the support and opinion of Engain, alongside a team of internationally renowned experts, to contribute to an Environmental and Social Assessment in West Africa.

Engain and the Land Rover at large this week conducting ecological and environmental site surveys - whilst keeping a safe distance.....

Congratulations to our consultant Jonny, who is now fully BRE qualified as a CEEQUAL assessor.

Following extensive work on a complex site in rural Wiltshire, we're delighted that planning permission has now been awarded to progress with development of Holt Tannery - a mixed scheme housed on a particularly technical site.

We are delighted to have partnered with Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design and CampbellReith consulting engineers for a Joint Venture (JV) contract awarded by Homes England for the 2018-2023 Multi-disciplinary Framework.

Our heritage specialists have been supporting a number of developers and estate owners - providing consultancy and robust ecological data, to protect assets, ensure a balance in project benefits and enrich applications planned for the new year.

Since joining us as a graduate, Jonny has played an important role in some major European infrastructure projects. And we thought it time to shine a light on his work.

Congratulations to Emily Wood from our ecology team, who has won the 2017 Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) photo competition.

During the season of bat monitoring, our team is also devoting time to help conservation groups - with some rewarding results