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Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) – Bridport, Dorset

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Balancing Development and Biodiversity in Dorset

Designing with Nature: A Success Story Near Bridport

When planning any new development, understanding the local ecology is the first step toward a successful build. A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) was conducted for a proposed farmworker’s dwelling and parking area near Bridport, Dorset. The assessment highlights how tailored mitigation measures can keep a project moving forward while fully respecting the surrounding landscape.

Bridport Town Centre (Stock Image)

Understanding the Landscape Baseline

The development footprint itself sits on managed modified grassland and a small patch of mixed scrub, which holds low nature conservation value at a local level. However, because the site is nestled within the beautiful Dorset National Landscape and falls inside the Impact Risk Zones for two nearby Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), the wider environmental context required careful navigation.

Key Ecological Findings & Solutions

While the on-site survey revealed that the immediate plot has low ecological sensitivity, an old stone agricultural building directly adjacent to the boundary presents unique factors:

  • Protecting Nocturnal Wildlife: The neighboring building contains features suitable for roosting bats. To prevent domestic light spill from disrupting these nocturnal animals and to comply with local Dark Skies policies, a Phase 2 Lighting Assessment has been integrated into the next steps of the design process.

  • Safeguarding Nesting Birds: Active swallow nests were confirmed nearby, and the boundary vegetation offers excellent habitat for common breeding birds. To remain fully compliant with wildlife legislation, high-impact construction works and vegetation clearance will be strictly scheduled outside the peak nesting season (March to September).

Building a Greener Future

Beyond protecting what is already there, the project presents an excellent opportunity to deliver active biodiversity gains. Final development plans will incorporate pollinator-friendly landscaping, bat boxes, and bird boxes to ensure the new home gives back to the local ecosystem.

How many BNG Credits per Acre?

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How many BNG Credits per Acre?

If you are considering giving up some of you farm land for BNG credits, then of course you will need to know how many BNG credits you will get per acre. The land you are giving up for BNG will be out of use for many years and as such it is only right to investigate the returns you might expect.

BNG Credits are created by changing land from one use to another. For example a field to woodland, or some low lying meadows in to wetlands.

Not Just “How Many”

The first thing to realize is that it is not just a case of “how many”. As with wine or stamps the price of credits varies based on “distinctiveness“. Grassland may have quite low “distinctiveness”, whilst a lake would have very high distinctiveness. This can affect the price of each credit by 400%. (£40,000 to £200,000 or more).

Wetlands are a Very Good Option for BNG

But. How Many BNG Credits per Acre?

The short answer might be about 1 BNG Credit per Acre. Or 2 BNG Credits per Hectare.

This is based a few real world examples we have worked on where say 4 hectares of marginal land yielded around 7 BNG Credits.

But of course it is not that simple. The credits come from improvements in biodiversity. So if you start with good bio diversity (say scrub) then you will gain less when you “upgrade” to woodland.

Your best possible “yield” would be to upgrade mono-cultural farmland to something like a swamp or lake. But in terms of profit (especially in the long term) perhaps it is better to use scruffy marginal land and make fewer credits.

A last word. If you are think perhaps you could “tidy up” an area and then re-wild it in a year of two remember that what you do is all being recorded by satellites (google earth), and part of the process if proving that the land has not recently been changed.

Prices Can Vary Per Unit

Want to Know More

If you would like to know how much money you could make from BNG credits, then please do contact us (wt@southwest-environmental.co.uk) and we can arrange for our ecologist to advise you on the best way forward.