Permitted Development Rights and Protected Species

From 6th April the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2018 (“2018 Amendment Order”) will come into force.

The new order permits a variety of adaptations to developments which would ordinarily be subject to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.

This is good news to many of our clients who are planning barn conversions, or agricultural to residential under change of use provisions.

However there are conditions! And certain obligations will still have to be met.  Permitted development as with all developments, must comply with all relevant legislation and regulations.

This includes the Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations 2017.  Whereby any negative impacts upon protected species such as bats for example, will still have to be addressed.

The onus is still very much on the client/developer to ensure that their scheme complies with and meets the preconditions of the 2018 Amendment Order.

If the scheme is of an agricultural to residential nature, developers may still be required to submit an application for prior approval to the local planning authority.  If this is the case then an ecological impact assessment will be required.  This will ascertain whether a protected species or habitat is at risk of harm from the development.

Further pre-commencement conditions may also be applied if impacts or risks to ecology are found.  Because Contract Ecology’s team have many years experience with rural development, we can draw up provisions to reduce and offset such impacts.

Our licensed ecologists are always on hand if you would like to discuss any permitted rights projects and protected species issues.  For ecology surveys and advice, please contact us on 01772 731404 for a friendly, confidential chat.

You can also follow our team and keep up to date with our news on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/contract-ecology-ltd/