Old Street City Cloisters Landscape Maintenance

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The Pritchard and Pritchard team have been revitalising the living wall and planted landscapes at this fantastic mixed use space in Old Street. Remedial works…
When the much delayed UK Environment Bill becomes law, it will be obligatory for new developments to not only to protect, but also to improve the biodiversity of the plot by 10%. This means developers need to prove so-called biodiversity net gain (BNG) to receive planning permission. The provision of habitats and food through biodiverse living walls and roofs could play a major role in helping developers prove BNG.
The Environment Bill is currently awaiting its third reading in the House of Commons. The important part of the bill from a biodiversity and planning perspective is Schedule 14. This will insert the following in the Town and Country Planning Act:
“Planning permission in England [is] subject to a condition to secure that the biodiversity gain objective is met.” This means “the biodiversity value attributable to the development exceeds the pre-development biodiversity value of the onsite habitat by at least the relevant percentage” and “the relevant percentage is 10%.”
To get planning permission the developers need to put together a compelling the biodiversity gain plan that explains how provision for species’ habitats will be at least 10% better than any habitat existing prior to the development. The developer remains responsible for the biodiversity of the site for “at least 30 years after the development is completed.”
Some local authorities already insist on 10% biodiversity net gain for new developments, see, for example, this guidance from the City of Leeds.
This article discusses the importance of biodiversity and how living roofs and walls can help developers meet BNG goals.
March 2, 2021 Editor
The World Wildlife Fund offers the following definition of biodiversity:
“Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter.”
Global and national studies have proven that Human activity is having a devastating impact on biodiversity, with many species facing extinction:
The 2019 best practice principles for Biodiversity Net Gain, by CIEEM, IEMA and CIRIA, defines BNG thus:
“Biodiversity Net Gain is development that leaves biodiversity in a better state than before. It is also an approach where developers work with local governments, wildlife groups, land owners and other stakeholders in order to support their priorities for nature conservation.”
The overarching principle is based on Mitigation Hierarchy, which means developers should first strive to avoid impacting diversity, then minimise impact and, as a last resort, compensate where losses cannot be avoided. There also appears to be a hierarchy of habitats and species. So irreplaceable habits – such as ancient woodland should not be impacted, but it is possible to offset damage to less significant habitats by making improvements to more significant habitats.
This leaves some scope for creating new biodiverse habitats, including through living walls, living roofs.
The CIEEM principles outlines a number of measures to incorporate biodiversity features. These specifically name green roofs, brown roofs and green walls, but we have also included other measures and explained with P&P notes how these relate to living walls, roofs, podiums and rooftop gardens.
1. Green roofs with a diversity of plant species.
2. Brown roofs with a range of substrates.
3. Green walls created with planting locations built in, or a planting framework added externally.
4. Introducing bat and bird boxes, following guidelines.
5. Rough or natural stone walls with holes for invertebrates and small birds to use.
6. Habitat creation for locally relevant wildlife habitat types.
7. Provide a range of ‘bug hotels’ with dead wood and stone piles, or purpose-made bug boxes with tubes and drill holes.
8. Native wild flower mixes as an alternative to amenity grassland or verges.
9. Early flowering plants that provide a nectar source for early invertebrates such as bees.
10. Nectar-rich native planting and native species with berries in the autumn within formal landscaping.
11. Species-rich native hedgerows as boundary features.
12. Ponds (not fish stocked) with an irregular and shallow, sloping edges.
13. Habitat corridors across a site to make a connection with wider habitats.
The exact metrics for measuring BNG haven’t been completed yet. DEFRA is establishing a points system where the ecological nature of the site is assessed by an ecologist before development and this is compared to the impacts positive and negative of the proposed development in a report.
This will become clearer when DEFRA publishes its Biodiversity Metric 3.0 (which has been delayed until spring 2021). The criteria that ecologists are likely to take into account are explained in CIEEM’s Biodiversity Net Gain guidance.
The Pritchard and Pritchard team have been revitalising the living wall and planted landscapes at this fantastic mixed use space in Old Street. Remedial works…
The Pritchard and Pritchard team were subcontracted by DDC Limited To undertake the installation of this magnificent roof garden in the heart of London.
The Pritchard and Pritchard team have worked with MMA Architectural to install wire trellis at this multi-storey car park in Winchester.
Use the Green Wall Dr for your living wall remedial works.
We can restore green walls to their former glory, treating pests, replacing plants, checking irrigation systems and ensuring living walls function well again so you can enjoy their benefits!
World Wildlife Day
‘Each year, on World Wildlife Day, we celebrate the beauty and wonder of our planet’s wild plants and animals. Why do we care about wildlife? Beyond a moral duty to sustain the Earth, humanity depends on the essential products and services that nature provides, from food and freshwater to pollution control and carbon storage. By damaging the natural world, we threaten our own well-being.
Read our guest blog penned by steel wire trellis specialists MMA Architectural
Expert advice on planning a successful green wall,.