What is a PEA?
Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) is a rapid assessment of the ecological features present, or potentially present, within a site and its surrounding area. A PEA normally comprises a desk study and a walkover survey.
The primary audience for a PEA is the client, developer and project team, not typically a planning authority.
The key objectives of a PEA are to:
- identify the likely ecological constraints associated with a project.
- identify any mitigation measures likely to be required, following the ‘Mitigation Hierarchy’. This is a hierarchical process that should be adopted to avoid, mitigate and compensate negative ecological impacts and effects from works.
- identify any additional surveys that may be required to inform an Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA).
- identify the opportunities offered by a project to deliver ecological enhancement.
All the above should help a PEA report feed into the design stage of a project, which can be a flexible and cyclic process.
What is an EcIA?
An EcIA follows on from a PEA, once all impacts can be assessed and any required additional surveys completed. A PEA will be incorporated into the EcIA.
An EcIA is a process of identifying, quantifying and evaluating potential effects of development-related or other proposed actions on habitats, species and ecosystems.
The EcIA helps competent authorities understand ecological issues in light of relevant planning policy and legislation when determining applications for consent.
An EcIA is also used to support a range of assessments e.g. Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
Following completion and submission of PEA or EcIA:
- Our team can support you through the planning application process.
- Our team is able to work with local bodies to assist with mitigation, including licence applications.
- Our team can provide documentation and support in aid of discharging planning conditions.
