Wildlife Circus

23/01636/FUL The conversion and change of use of the Pumphouse building.  The planning file is disappointing and inaccurate: there has been no correspondence from the consultants to the London Bat Group inbox. I did contact them about the Bat Survey last year - but there was little interest in the information relayed - I am the trainer for the London Bat Group. The original mitigation strategy for the bat roost is not being applied to this application. The site has been validated as  Open Mosaic Habitat by the University of East London. The planting proposed around the wharf and pumping station will have an impact on the OMH. This is because invasive species and species not characteristic of the plant community are included with the proposal. There is reptile interest  at the wharf and a mitigation strategy was drawn up in 2018 for an application that falls under Elmbridge council see below.

  Cambridge Road Estate is going through the final consultation stage before a planning application in the Autumn. As it is 7.71 ha it a large-scale application, which will affect the whole borough.  The countless blocks will be up to 13 storeys. Yet it is in an Area of Deficiency as defined by the Mayor, who has actually pledged not to increase the numbers of people living in an AoD (more than 1km from open space) demonstrated by the area coloured purple on the map above. Biodiversity The London Plan includes an important policy (7.19) Biodiversity and Access to Nature, which links to policies and proposals on approaches to strategic planning in the Mayor’s Biodiversity Strategy. Policy 7.19 contains the following statement; The Mayor’s Biodiversity Strategy sets out criteria and procedures for identifying land of importance for London’s biodiversity for protection in LDFs and identifying areas of deficiency in access to nature. Protecting the sites at all levels, ser...

Hydro have engaged a new ecological consultancy, EDP, to undertake this seasons ecological surveys at the Filter Beds. Natural England have advised that 'the consultants should demonstrate how bats are using the basins as a foraging area at optimal conditions'. The council have engaged their own expert from Baker, Shepherd and Gillespie to advise on the process. This means that the Filter Beds should be full of natural water and the early surveys should achieve adequate spring temperatures and not these inclement <10 degrees we are currently experiencing. It is up to us to monitor the level of water in the basins, by  maintaining an accurate record of photographic evidence. The previous consultants produced misleading reports showing summer bat surveys with basins full of water, yet there were no leaves on the trees in the photographs. It is likely that the new surveys and tweaking of the design (emphasis on a dark corridor for bat foraging) will be presented in A...