News & Technical Updates

New for 2009'BatStat Basic' heated bat box to retail at £595.00 plus VATThese new boxes utilize the same reliable, rugged external design as our existing BatStat box, but are simpler internally, and use a very reliable, but non-programm

Welcome to our Autumn 2008 newsletter. This edition includes an introductory section on our increasing involvement with wind farms. The article highlights the types of projects we are involved with at the moment and describes our in-house approach to

Click here to download our recently published in-house protocol for bat surveys at wind energy sites

In April 2008 the government introduced its new standard electronic form for planning permission applications. Alongside this, the government introduced new information requirements for validation of planning applications by local planning authoritie

We are currently researching the positions of local authorities with regard to pre-planning and pre-verification requirements for biodiversity. Perhaps not surprisingly, initial results have shown a wide variation between authorities, with some reque

AMA are pleased to have been an exhibitor at the recent British Wind Energy Association's 'BWEA30' exhibition and conference, held over the 21st-23rdOctober at at ExCel, in London's Docklands.  The event attracted over 2,600 peop

An inspector has allowed a wind farm in Cornwall after finding that the environmental, economic and social impacts of the project can be dealt with satisfactorily.   The proposal comprised three turbines, a substation, access tracks and anc

Ministers have approved plans for a 35- turbine wind farm near Sutherland subject to conditions to protect breeding birds.  They ignored calls for a public enquiry from campaigners, who claimed that the development will have a detrimental effect

 Revised rules have at last been issued after the European Commission threatened the UK with legal action for failing to implement the law properly (Planning, 26 October 2007, p5). The UK's 1999 regulations stated that EIAs were just needed

 “If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse” Sir David Attenborou

Invertebrates have often been ignored at the baseline survey stage for EIA, but the advent of a new ‘best practice’ publication from Natural England entitled ‘Surveying Terrestrial and Freshwater Invertebrates for Conservation Evalu

From: 'Planning'21 March 2008 (Development Control Casebook)  Plans for a recycled materials storage building and bunkers at a waste transfer station in Leicestershire have been rejected on the grounds that they would create noise n

Planning magazine, Issue 1758 29th February 2008 Charity reels from – Catherine Early Campaigners are bitterly disappointed after the first legal case over recent wildlife protection laws was rejected by a High Court judge.Charity Bug

From: Planning magazine, Issue 1758 29th February 2008 The code for sustainable homes will be mandatory for all new homes from 1 May 2008, the government announced this week. The code measures nine categories of sustainable design including energy, w

The water vole, the UK’s fastest declining native mammal, has been given a survival boost with news that the species is to receive extra protection.Defra has announced that from 6 April the list of species protected under the Wildlife and Count

Following the implementation of Planning Policy Guidance 9 (PPS9), ancient woodlands and veteran trees have are now a material consideration for Local Planning Authorities in their determination of planning applications. Ancient and veteran trees pro

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) was published in 1994 as part of the UK response to the Convention on Biological Diversity signed in Rio in 1992.  In 2007, the UK List of Priority Species and Habitats was fully revised taking into accou

Once you’ve arranged your ecology surveys it’s easy to sit back and wait for your report without considering the work you’ve asked your ecologist to do. As some of the earliest personnel to visit a site, ecologists may be expos

Substantial changes to the legislation on European Protected Species came into force in October 2007 and there are some very important implications for developers and their consultants. The Conservation (Natural Habitats &C.) (Amendment) Regulati