In Northern Ireland, Councils request a Biodiversity Checklist with all new Planning applications. This is designed as an initial scoping form to determine if any further wildlife surveys might be required in line with Planning Policy and law.

For small-sized developments (and provided no further surveys are required) we offer:-

• Fast turnaround, typically within 1 working day.
• A flat rate of only £150 including VAT.

Preliminary Ecological Appraisal

If anything on the Biodiversity Checklist is ticked, NIEA will request an “Ecological Statement” which is completed by an ecologist. This will require a visit to the site and a baseline scoping survey known as a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal or Preliminary Ecological Assessment (PEA).

The purpose of a PEA is to determine if you require any specific protected species or habitat surveys for your Planning project. It is also a cost effective way of filtering out unnecessary surveys at an early stage so you only commission what additional surveys or information you actually need. Read more about Preliminary Ecological Appraisal here.

Protected Species Surveys