Highlights of 2017

The team at Greenspace Ecological Solutions would like to wish you an amazing start to 2018 and welcome you to our new ‘News’ Blog page. Highlighted in a weekly team meeting, the concept of the page is to provide a one stop shop to share some of our exciting projects, our views on the changes in ecological consultancy/planning and of course, some of the fun stuff we get up to throughout the year. Although in no way exclusive, here are some of the highlights of 2017:

• In an effort to blow away the Christmas blues and start the year as we meant to go on, January saw the Team taken on a sensory journey with a visit to the amazing London restaurant ‘Dans Le Noir’. Voted by the British Restaurant Awards as ‘best culinary experience 2017’ as the names suggests with exception of the pre and post dinner drinks, this is an amazing insight into what it’s like to lose one of your senses, with the whole meal experience presented ‘in the dark’.
• Maximising the time available during the Winter months, the cooler spring period saw the usual PEAs, HSIs, management plans, bat hibernation checks, dormouse box maintenance and EPSM licence application work. All this alongside; inhouse presentations on ‘Harvest Mice’, external training on ‘Bats in Churches’ and a ‘Legal Update for Ecological Consultants’, a company-wide ‘First Aid Course’, our yearly reviews and the employment of our a graduate ecologist, our arborist Neil and Derek the drone, all led to another ‘not so quiet’ winter period at our end.
• Arrival of the warmer weather really saw things heating up both inside and outside the office. With the opening of the survey season seeing a start to the usual surveys, as well as some high-profile reptile and GCN translocations, the season saw around 160 new projects added to the board, the team have voted the translocation of 580 reptiles from a small brownfield site in Brighton, the ‘site with the baby adders’, identification of what is understood to be the second largest brown long-eared roost in Kent as the Highlights of the Year.
• Continued relationship with our core clients saw fruition of a range of exciting projects, with planning permission granted for the highly innovative sub-terrain developments of ‘Beechwood Farm’, the ‘Upper Outlook’ and the Para 55 development of the ‘Lower Outlook’, approval of the re written ‘Knights Park Management Plan’ for Tunbridge Wells largest housing development (which perhaps more excitingly for us includes management of 52ha woodland within the approved planning permission) ‘Kinghts Wood’ and the shoring up of an area of ancient woodland which was at risk of falling into the adjacent quarry.

Proving a busy year for licencing, in its short history, the company’s involvement in a range of licensable activities has given the team opportunity to demonstrate a 100% success rate for 43 EPSM licence applications covering bats, dormice and GCN.

Considered another leap forward for the industry, alongside a handful of other industry professionals the company founder (Guy) became involved in representing SMEs in the L7 Apprenticeships Scheme Trailblazer Group for the Occupation of Ecologist and Environmental Managers, and a member of the sounding board for Natural England’s ‘District Licencing’ pilot for great crested newts. The former helping to design an Apprenticeships Scheme for up and coming ecologist, due to go live mid/late 2018, this is an interesting and rewarding way to assist the shaping of training within the ecological industry and having seen the industry make significant professional inroads since his time as a consultant, this is something GES is very proud to be a part of. Believing the need for ‘a change’ in the current GCN conservation protocol, the companies involvement in the Natural England pilot is hoped to progress the project in a constructive and application friendly manner.

As ever, training and development were key in 2017 and the GES team members travelled both across the UK and closer to home to partake in various courses run by companies, charities and professional organisations such as CIEEM, KWT, the Mammal Society, Herpetologic & FREETHS and some great in-house training too, training remains key to the company ethos, and long may it last.

Demonstrating only a bite size chunk of the exciting work conducted, as if the above wasn’t enough, other great achievements of team in 2017 included; James gaining his Class 2 Bat Licence and being promoted to a Senior Ecologist, Linnet gaining her Class 1 Dormouse and Class 2 GCN Licence, and our previous intern from Reading University ‘Ollie’ (who being a bit of a fancy pants, already held his Class 1 dormouse licence) securing a permanent position in the team.

Having summarised; what can we say other than ‘WOW’ to the year, ‘THANKS’ to our clients, and ‘WELL DONE’ to the GES team.

With some exciting jobs already in the pipeline and a couple of interesting CPD courses already booked, the excitement for 2018 is building within the office. Searching to further grow our team and already organising an array of ‘FUN STUFF’ for the year, now this Blog/News page is live hopefully we will find the time to keep you guys updated as we progress.