Costs - the price of the environment
- Costing ecological works is incredibly difficult as there are so many unknowns. Where planning applications are concerned, to ensure the smoothest progress through the planning process, work needs to be thorough and rigorous otherwise it will be thrown out by either the planners or the committee (who may have their constituents and votes in mind).
- It is essential that when budgeting for a development of any kind whether it be housing large or small, new hotel, oil well exploration, sports centre, new hospital, school and many more, that there is an awareness of the likely costs involved. The protected species work, let alone any other environmental or ecological considerations such as ecological landscape planning, mitigation and sustainable drainage, can be substantial.
- You will be required to check by the planning authority whether you have any protected species on site prior to submitting any planning application for development. You may think there is nothing on your site but invariably there is. There could be slow-worms, badgers, bats, great crested newts or a myriad other issues. They all need attending to and they all cost a great deal of money to sort out. Protected species legislation can be very prolonged and time scales and costs unpredictable. Get it wrong, and the cost will be even greater.
- Our costs alone can range from a couple of thousand pounds to tens of thousands depending on what is on the site and what needs doing to ensure regulatory and legal compliance. When you build in all the other regulations and legislation you will be required to comply with, costs can escalate in areas that might not have been considered in advance, such that in some circumstances a project might not be viable. However, it’s far better to know in advance.
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